


Oh, What We Dread

by NowThatWereDone



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: AU, Alive Allison Argent, BAMF Kira Yukimura, Minor Lydia Martin/Jordan Parrish, Minor Scott McCall/Kira Yukimura, Multi, Past Scott McCall/Kira Yukimura, Scott McCall & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Season 5 AU, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-06
Updated: 2015-12-13
Packaged: 2018-04-19 11:24:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 23,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4744520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NowThatWereDone/pseuds/NowThatWereDone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the start of senior year. Things are starting to look up for The Pack. They all have very mixed feelings though when, in the middle of the night, Lydia calls a pack meeting to announce that Allison (dead Allison) had shown up at her house. Add chimeras, dread doctors, and Theo Raeken to the mix and The Pack is in for a very interesting senior year./ Or, my rewrite of season five.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Anew

Six months. It had been _six months_ ; six months since the whole benefactor incident, six months since Derek and Braeden left… Six months. The time before that, Scott didn’t really want to think about because that was still, well, not an _open_ wound but certainly a scar—the big kind that permanently disfigures a person.

He supposed this was why he held onto Kira a little tighter as he watched Stiles quickly scrawl his initials on the library’s book shelf before passing the pen off to Lydia. Scott took the time to glance around the library, to see all of their fellow seniors picking spots with their friends to sign, high fiving each other and laughing… Enjoying life. Maybe this year, he could enjoy life, too. Maybe everything was looking up.

The absence of heat at his side alerted him that Kira was leaving, stepping forward to take the sharpie from Lydia’s waiting fingers. He could tell by the quirk in her eyebrow and set of her lips that Kira was a little uncomfortable about something.

“Isn’t this vandalism?” Lydia shrugged.

“Not technically.” Which was about the best answer Kira would get. Scott couldn’t help smiling when she glanced back at him, as if for confirmation that she wasn’t about to commit one of the seven deadly sins or something. He nodded, as did Stiles, so Kira turned back to write out her initials before passing the marker to Malia and melding herself back into Scott’s side.

God, he’d missed her when she’d been away. Honestly, Scott hadn’t really thought about how deep his relationship was with Kira until she’d told him her family was leaving for the summer. Actually, it wasn’t until midnight three days after she left that Scott _really_ felt it, ‘it’ being a strange absence, a hollow part in his chest. He’d felt it before.

When he was younger and, more often than not, spent the years wheezing his way to the Beacon Hills hospital, Scott often felt the cumbersome ‘it’ after not seeing Stiles for a while. And sometimes, he felt it when he thought about his dad. Not to mention all of the friends he’s lost (Isaac, Erica, Boyd…). But with Kira, it was different. Not stronger, but it stung in a way he hadn’t felt since A—

“Scott?” Malia was looking at him expectantly with that brash expression she quite frequently wore.  She wasn’t the only one staring at him either—all of them glanced over at Scott curiously, waiting for him to finish off. _Right_. Scott stepped forward, taking the sharpie in his hands and heading over to a blank spot on the shelf.

 _SM_. And that was it. Scott’s lips twisted as her stared at his initials.

Something wasn’t right. And he knew exactly what it was as he glanced back down at the initials his friends had left behind. They’d all left their mark, _he_ had left his mark. But she hadn’t—the one who’d permanently been stamped in his mind, engraved, branded, carved… Scott stiffened his jaw as her bright smile popped into her mind. _Right when he thought he was dealing with it…_

_SM. AA._

Scott stared at their initials, stared at hers, before stepping back and wrapping his arm around Kira. A moment of silence passed over the McCall Pack as they stared at the double A’s marked boldly on the beige surface.

“She would’ve been here with us,” Stiles said.

“Yeah…” Scott added. Lydia frowned a little at that.

“She still is.” And it was true, Scott thought, as they exited the library, made their way down the stairs. While Allison was physically dead, she would always live on in the pack, in their hearts. Maybe not an open wound anymore, but a scar. A beautiful, heartbreaking, life-changing scar.

Perhaps, she would be the last person they all lost. The horribly low point before the sun broke through the storm and brought better times.

God willing.

*

She was surrounded by darkness.

And then she wasn’t.

She sat up, violently, the room spinning as she tried regaining her composure. This wasn’t an easy task to accomplish. The world was too harsh, too bright, even under the pale moonlight. She shut her eyes, pawed against the ground. The ground. It was too soft against her skin, skin that felt dry and cold and tight.

 _What happened to me_?

She tried thinking back, only to be remember dark figures, invasive needles, and pain. A lot of pain. Everything else blurred in her mind, forming just beyond her mental reach so that whenever she tried to grasp it, the thought would fade, vaporizing like smoke.

She did remember dying, though.

She remembered the sword plummeting through her body and she remembered bleeding out. She remembered going somewhere…

So why was she _here_? Wherever ‘here’ was, she wasn’t sure, but her sensory overload aside, she knew this wasn’t any kid of afterlife. If she listened hard enough, she could hear car engines, radio music, human beings…

Things a dead person shouldn’t be hearing.

Slowly, the girl began pushing herself upward. Her head pounded in protest, but she tried her best to ignore the rhythmic swells of pain in her skull. She needed to figure out where she was and why, among other things.

Finding a road would be her best bet. The girl pushed to her feet, stumbling into a nearby tree. A cursory glance towards her hand let her know that her skin—which was usually pale—looked even whiter. Nerves bubbled in her chest. _Let’s focus on finding out where to go_ , she thought to herself, shaking her head (a bad idea, considering the migraine) and forcing herself to keep moving.

As she went on her staggering trek towards the nearest road (her ears were picking up on where the sound of cars rose and fall as the sped along, her nose picking up the scent of their emissions), she decided to keep trying to remember.

The further back she thought, the easier it was to remember.

_My name is Allison Argent. I am a hunter._

That was easy.

 _I am seventeen years old…_ Was she? Her birthday had been nearing before she died. Depending on how much time had elapsed… _I am seventeen years old._ Allison decided not to think about that. What else, what else…

 _I go to Beacon Hills High School._ Or would went be a more accurate term? _My mother…_ Died. Derek killed her. But, she recalled moments later, that was because her mom had tried killing Scott.

The Pack.

 _Dad_.

Allison’s sense of urgency increased as her staggering morphed into a slightly faster hobble. She needed to get back to them. She needed to find them.

She needed to know they were safe.

And it was that worry fluttering in her chest, the image of her friends and family that muted her concern over anything else, dulling her pain, numbing her senses…

Making her not even notice the pair of glowing yellow eyes watching her.


	2. Alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Allison, are you okay?”
> 
> “I’m supposed to be dead.” True.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos! Please tell me what you think! I'm going to try to update at the least every three(ish) days, but it might be more frequent than that, tbh, especially if y'all remind me! If you have any theories about where this will go, please share, idk I like communication!

It was as Lydia had just settled into her couch, when she’d just sunk into her red blanket, when she’d just opened up her latest novel of choice ( _Gone Girl_ —Malia, who turned out to be quite the reader, had practically begged Lydia to read it) when three sharp knocks caught her attention. For a moment, Lydia didn’t move a muscle. Perhaps, she thought wistfully, she was hearing things. Certainly wouldn’t be the first time. It was the day before school started and Lydia wanted, more than anything, to just relax.

_Knock-knock-knock._

Maybe it wasn’t in her imagination. With a heavy sigh, Lydia placed her novel, resting it face-down and open on the sofa’s arm. Once she assured herself she wouldn’t lose her place, the banshee padded towards her front door. On her toes, mostly; she really needed to remember to tell her mom to buy more rugs. The hardwood floor got so _cold_ sometimes.

_Knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock—_

What the heck? Lydia was about ready to let whoever was trying to break her door down have it, wrenching the door open with a glower on her face. But when she saw Allison Argent standing on the other side of her door, the glower melted right off of her face. The foul words she’d planned to say flew from her mind. Actually, every word did. Lydia was left speechless, flabbergasted, completely dumbfounded.

_What the—_

_Allison!?”_ What else could she say? She could hardly even describe how she _felt_. How could one encompass the emotion they felt upon seeing their best friend who had died over half a year ago into one, succinct word? How could one even begin to fathom the fact that someone who had _died_ was now on their doorstep?

 _This_ is _Beacon Hills._

The snide thought was mostly drowned out by the shock and grief and elation Lydia felt (which weren’t really the right words to coin her current disposition, but the best she could come up with, even with her genius IQ). Allison’s bloodshot eyes brightened a little bit as the corner of her lips curved upwards into an awkward smile.

“Hey, Lydia. Can I come in?” So casual, so blasé. Though the friendly greeting did little to provide levity to the stark mood, especially when, after Lydia provided a curt nod, Allison pitched forward as if to faint.

“Allison!” Lydia just managed to catch the girl in her arms. The contact _did_ prove one thing; Allison was really alive. No apparition, no phantom. It was Allison. And yeah, she felt unusually cold to the touch and it was true that everyone had seen the Oni ram his sword to the hilt in Allison’s torso… But she was back. Or, Lydia was crazy.

Pushing that thought to the back of her mind, Lydia helped Allison into her home, easing her over the door’s threshold and across the floor. It was as she eased Allison onto her couch that she noticed just how bad her friend’s current state was. Her hair looked thin and frail, her skin sallow, her eyes were sunken… Not to mention she wore a simple dress akin to a hospital gown. _Maybe that’s why she’s so cold._

“Allison,” Lydia said for the third time, getting down onto her knees so she could look up at her friend. “Allison, are you okay?”

“I’m supposed to be dead.” True. Still, the thought cut through Lydia, reminded her of those long months of mourning she’d gone through. Had it all been for naught? Shouldn’t she be exultant to be seeing her friend again? But then, nobody just came back from the dead without something bad happening shortly after. I.E., Kate Argent, Peter Hale…

There was Jackson. But he’d only been “dead” for a few seconds. Allison had been dead for _months_.

“I’m supposed to be dead,” Allison repeated, leaning her head back and closing her eyes.

“I know.” Lydia didn’t know what else to say (come on, big brain, produce something useful!). “You don’t look too good.” Allison snorted at that. “Are you cold? Hungry?” It might be better if Lydia focused on the immediate issues. Allison shook her head.

“I don’t want you to… to take care of me. I came here to make sure you were alive.”

“Why wouldn’t I be…” Oh. Allison had died before the whole Nogitsune thing was solved. Allison had died before she’d even really seen for herself that Lydia was safe. “Well… here I am.” Allison didn’t say anything. Every few seconds, her long body would quake, a flurry of shivers running across her skin. Lydia grabbed the blanket she’d left, throwing it over Allison and smiling when the huntress sunk into its warmth.

_At least I can help her with that._

“Is Stiles okay?” Allison’s voice was a little muffled. Fatigue?

“Yeah,” Lydia murmured, “he’s fine.” She thought so at least. After he’d been de-possessed, Stiles had dealt remarkably well with the whole situation. A little gloomy at times, and definitely not perfect, but none of them were. He got better grades, helped with Liam when he’d been bitten, dated Malia without an issues…

 _Ahem_.

“Stiles is fine,” Lydia repeated.

“Scott…?” Lydia wasn’t sure if Allison was asking about him or if she’d succumbed to her sleep and was currently dreaming of their alpha. She sat for a second, watched as Allison’s breathing steadied and her body relaxed. A part of her was scared that if she moved, if she turned away for even a second, Allison would disappear.

So, like a watchdog, Lydia stayed in her kneeling position, carefully watching Allison as she pulled out her phone from her pocket and dialed Scott’s number.

He answered after the third ring.

“Lydia?” Scott’s groggy tone implied she’d woken him from his sleep.

“Hey, Scott…” How was she going to say this? “Are you, uh, busy?”

“Um, busy sleeping…” But she could hear him shifting. “Is everything okay? Are you okay?” In a way, she was more than okay. In another, more prominent way, she was terrified. Lydia twisted her lips as she continued staring at Allison’s sleeping form before tentatively reaching out a shaking hand, dropping the hand on Allison’s knee.

_She’s still here._

“Lydia? Lydia are you there?” Concern was rising in Scott’s voice.

“Y-Yes,” Lydia stuttered, “I’m here. And, I’m not alone.”

“What do you mean? Are you in trouble?” In a matter of speaking? Maybe.

“We kind of need to have a pack meeting. Like right now.”

“Lydia, it’s almost two in the morning—”

“Scott, Allison is alive.”

His end of the line went silent. So silent that, for a moment, Lydia thought Scott had hung up on her. But then she heard his slow, ragged breaths. And then, in an utterly heartbreaking tone, Scott spoke up.

“I’m…” He took a breath. “I’m on my way.”

*

They all arrived at Lydia’s house within thirty minutes of her call to Scott. Scott, of course, arrived first, sweaty and disheveled like he’d forgone his bike and decided to sprint the whole way there. Ten minutes after Scott came Stiles and Malia, and only a few seconds after that Kira came rushing into the room. Lydia mentally counted the four other teens.

“Where’s Liam?” Lydia asked.

“Baby needs his sleep,” Stiles said, and she couldn’t help but smile at that. And then she remembered why she’d called them all there.

“Uh…” She glanced around. “Did Scott tell you guys why we’re here?”

“No,” Malia said, “he basically just ordered us out of our sleep. Which is really sad because Stiles and I just started having s—”

“ _Malia_ ,” Kira interrupted, knowing all too well what Malia was going to say. Malia rolled her eyes. “That’s a little too much information.”

“I was going to soup, Kira.” Kira blinked.

“Oh,” she said, “never mind then…”

“I mean after the soup usually comes sex, but…”

“So what’s going on?” Stiles asked, probably noting that neither Scott nor Lydia smiled at Kira and Malia’s banter.

“And why does it smell like roses and death?” Malia added. Lydia couldn’t actually smell anything even close to those scents but then again, she didn’t have supernatural senses. She glanced over to Scott, wondering if he’d picked up on anything. By the way his eyes were scanning the room, she figured he must’ve.

“Well,” Lydia began, “I don’t know how to say this in a way that won’t freak you guys out but… Allison isn’t dead.” A heavy silence filled the room as all eyes shifted, predictably, towards Scott. Lydia could even read the emotions off of everyone’s faces; Stiles looked suspicious and surprised, Malia a tad bit indifferent, and Kira looked… afraid?

“How can she be alive?” Stiles asked. “That’s impossible.”

“People don’t just come back from the dead,” Kira agreed. Lydia was going to explain to them the whole thing but, before she could, she heard the floor creaking behind her.

“Lydia?” Allison’s soft voice called out. And then she was there in the vestibule, standing just under the archway leading to the den, eyes wide and scanning the crowd who’d came to see her. Her brown eyes hiccupped on Scott.

“Oh my God,” Stiles said. “Allison… you’re—”

“Alive?” the girl supplied for him, something of a smirk on her face. “Yeah… I’m confused about that part, too.”


	3. Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How is house arrest?” Allison snorted on the other line.
> 
> “Awful. I actually considered going outside to watch the grass grow at one point.”
> 
> “Hey, anything to be entertained.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you commented and so i updated earlier than I planned too. Yay! Also, I'm probably going to try and lengthen the chapters, so updates will be slower, just so you know, but you'll have more to read so that's good!! Thanks for the support!

It was the first day of senior year and Scott couldn’t think of anything outside of Allison Argent. He woke up that morning and thought of how she had looked last night. He brushed his teeth and thought of her pale skin. He showered and thought of the scent of floral death hugging her like armor. He put on his clothes, ate his food, and tied his shoes thinking of how she’d looked at him. Intrigued, yet distant, concerned, yet hurt.

It did not help that she was only one floor above him.

 _It’s too early to think about this_. But he had to think about it. He was The Alpha. Naturally, the others had all looked to him, as if they expected him to know exactly what to do with their once dead friend. He had to fumble for a good answer, declaring that Allison stayed with him since his mother worked a lot and wouldn’t notice her being there right away. Kira had eyed him when he’d suggested it, and he knew she had a right to, but he was still a little offended.

Scott didn’t think of Allison like that anymore.

Really, he didn’t.

( _Her eyes filled his mind, and there was nothing he could do to erase the image or the feelings that came with it)._

The stairs creaked. Scott made a move for the front door, but he wasn’t fast enough; Allison caught him anyway. Scott froze mid step, turning his head to see the dark haired huntress staring at him. Her fingers curled around the stair rail a little too tightly, like it was the only thing keeping her up. Scott’s concern easily clouded any discomfort.

“I’m about to help Deaton before going to school,” he said, “will you be fine here on your own? I can stay if you want…”

“No.” Her answer was quick. Too quick. She noticed Scott shrinking back and smiled. “It’s your last first day,” Allison said. “Go. I’ll be fine.” He didn’t quite believe her.

“Call me if you need anything,” Scott said anyway.

“Scott…”

“I mean it, Allison. Call me even if you’re just feeling lonely.” She looked a little confused about his concern which didn’t make sense to him because she was dead and now she’s not, she doesn’t have a right to be confused about _him_. “There’s food in the fridge,” Scott said. “I’ll call you the second I have a break.”

“Scott--” He didn’t listen to her protest, instead rushing out the door as he swore to himself his over-concern only stemmed from the fact that Allison had just returned from the dead and no other reason.

*

_“I'm starting to wonder if the rules to our supernatural world aren't as rigid as I once thought." Scott eyed the talon between Deaton’s forceps. "Or maybe someone's trying to change those rules."_

*

As it turned out, Allison actually did get lonely staring at the walls of Scott’s house. A part of her almost wished Melissa came home; even having to explain her presence to the woman would’ve been more exciting than this. At least she wouldn’t be alone. To stave her boredom, Allison decided to journey around the house.

It hadn’t changed much since she’d been there, but she did notice something odd. A wall decoration, one that had hung in her room, was now in Scott’s living room. Her fingers traced over the spindly metal, nostalgia filling her chest. Also, why would Scott keep it? Sure, they were, well, _you know_ , but Scott had moved on, she’d seen it even before she died.

Did he still care about her?

“Don’t think about that, Allison,” she scolded herself before walking towards the kitchen and away from the memories. Her stomach gurgled as soon as the fridge came into sight. Eating used to help with boredom. Wasn’t like there was anything else to do.

Allison opened the fridge, a little miffed to see that there actually _wasn’t_ food there. With a pout, she opened the freezer, praying for ice cream at the very least. No such luck. There was some ground beef. Hesitantly, Allison wrapped her knuckles against it—frozen solid. Shame, she was kind of in the mood for meat…

“Maybe he has bread.” Allison headed for the bread cabinet and, after opening it to reveal there indeed was bread inside of it, let out a victorious cry. She would’ve thrown her arms up in the air as well had her body not felt like it’d been hit by a truck eight times. Geez, was this what coming back from the dead felt like? Peter made it seem so easy.

After making herself a sandwich, Allison decided to watch some television. Of course, nothing really interested her. The interesting shows typically came on later in the day, usually on the weekends. Sigh. Allison wished she at least had a cell phone to keep her busy. But dead girls don’t text.

The longer she sat, blankly staring at some reality TV show about people working with their exes, the more the ramifications of her being alive weighed down on her. What would she do? She couldn’t hide in Scott’s house forever. She’d have to go outside eventually, too. How would they explain her suddenly reappearing again after it’d probably been broadcast that a student at Beacon Hills had been killed. How exactly _had_ they explained that away anyhow? And what would she tell her dad? Was she supposed to call him? When was a good time to do that?

Allison bit into her sandwich, trying harder to focus in on the TV and only the TV. Hopefully she’d be able to talk it over with Lydia later that day.

For about thirty minutes, Allison was completely at ease. The term ‘mind numbing television’ was not a debased one, as Allison successfully managed to push her worries to the back of her mind, at least until she felt her stomach clench viciously. The brunette sat up, wondering if it was a fleeting pain or one that would morph into something else.

Unfortunately, it was the latter.

Hopping to her feet, Allison sprinted towards Scott’s kitchen, barely making it to the sink before she threw up everything she’d eaten. She hung over the sink, dry heaving until her stomach calmed down. _What the hell…?_ Allison turned the faucet on to clean out her mess and her mouth, but even having the water touch her tongue made her queasy again.

It took her a moment to pull herself together again. She didn’t bother trying to make another sandwich—she really wasn’t hungry anymore. Instead of calling Scott and telling him about it, Allison took some Motrin and went back to the couch, flopping against its sturdy frame with a heavy sigh, waiting (im)patiently for the school day to end.

*

_"How'd I do?" Malia looked to Mr. Yukimura with large, hope fllled eyes. The man glanced back to appraise the cones the were coyote had demolished._

_"...There's room for improvement."_

*

Allison jumped when she heard a key grinding in the front door. Was Scott back? She looked in curiosity, then relief when she saw the young alpha closing the door behind him. Finally. Sitting alone had actually been a lot worse than Allison had anticipated, especially since, every so often, her stomach would perform a rather impressive array of backflips inside of her.

“How was school?” Allison asked, pushing herself up. Scott blinked at her as if, for a second, he’d forgotten she was there. Then he smiled a little, his uneasiness a bit too obvious.

“Uh, it was… good.” They stared at each other.

“…Would you mind expounding on that?” Allison asked. “Sitting here by myself has been torture.” Scott’s brows furrowed in concern as he took a few strides towards Allison, a hand up as if to touch her before he let his arm drop heavily at his side.

“Why didn’t you tell me when I called you?” Scott asked. “I would’ve—”

“You needed to be in school,” Allison reminded him. “And I was fine.” Aside from her stomach issues, but Scott didn’t need to worry about that. “Was it fun, at least? Make any new friends?” Okay, Allison was really starting to sound like a stay at home mom. The suburban kind, who did nothing but read travel magazines while her husband and children were off living their lives.

“Um. You could say that.” Scott walked towards the stairs, hesitated. “An old friend of mine is back in town. And he’s a werewolf, too.” Oh. That sounded fun.

“That’s a good thing, right?” Allison asked, eyes narrowing when she saw Scott slowly ease weight onto a step. Was he trying to get away from her? Should she let him?

“Yeah…” Allison’s eyes narrowed further. She recognized the tone in Scott’s voice a little too well. Scott looked away from her, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s nothing, really. Stiles just doesn’t trust him.”

“What, does he think he’s some kind of serial killer?”

“Something like that.”

“Typical Stiles.” The two shared a brief laugh. Too brief. Silence followed the chuckle, leaving the two once again watching the other. If she didn’t say anything, Scott would probably retreat to his room, leaving her alone once more. But just as she’d opened her mouth, Scott started talking.

“I actually have to go study. There’s this test tomorrow in AP BIO—”

“You’re in an AP class?” Allison bit her lip as soon as the question popped out of her. Scott frowned, pouted almost, then nodded his head.

“Yeah. I’ve been studying some, but I just really want to get a good grade, so…”

“Oh, yeah, yeah, I understand,” Allison ushered him up the stairs as she spoke. “Go study. Be studious. I’ll just… call Lydia or something.” Scott gave her an awkward thumbs up before clambering up his stairs. Gosh.

It was like she was infectious or something.

_Then again, I could be. Dead people can carry contagions._

It’d certainly explain her sickness…

Allison headed back to the McCall’s living room, picking up the house phone and dialing Lydia’s number.

_Please pick up, please pick up, please pick up…_

“ _Hi, it’s Lydia. Sorry I missed you, but leave a message and I’ll be sure to call you back.”_

*

_Someone's not someone. And when I figure out who that someone really is, someone's in big trouble."_

*

One could call her overzealous or just really compassionate, but as soon as she’d finished her talk with Parrish, Lydia rushed over to the nearest coffee shop. She didn’t place the order, of course, because cold coffee would be disgusting, but if she studied at the café, she wouldn’t forget to bring Parrish his coffee—Lydia never went back on her word.

As she sat, tapping her pencil against her notebook and trying to focus on blood cells instead of Tracy’s night terrors, Lydia’s eyes trailed to her phone (the ultimate distraction). Even though it was face down and on silent, the device still called to her. _So_ much more entertaining than AP BIO (which Lydia still felt a little irked about not knowing the answer to a Biology related question but, hey, there had to be _some_ things she didn’t know).

After a moment of mental “debate”, Lydia snatched up her phone and slid it open… Only to see that someone had called her. More specifically, Scott McCall had. Or his house. And, with her deductive reasoning, she knew if Scott wanted to get a hold of her he’d just use her phone, Lydia knew this had to be Allison. Her dead best friend.

Frantic, Lydia called back.

“ _Hello_?” Even though she knew Allison was alive before the greeting, hearing her friend’s voice was still like a breath of fresh air, and Lydia leaned back against her chair with a small smile.

“Hey, Allison.” God, it felt good to say that again. “How is house arrest?” Allison snorted on the other line.

“Awful. I actually considered going outside to watch the grass grow at one point.”

“Hey, anything to be entertained.” A shared laugh. “Did you go through Scott’s room?”

“No.”

“ _Allison_.”

“I didn’t!” Lydia sat up a little straighter, raising her brows even though Allison couldn’t see her. “I… might’ve… _glanced_ inside, but that was it! I’m not trying to invade his privacy or anything.”

“Uh-huh,” Lydia teased, though she knew Allison was being sincere.

“What about you?” Allison asked. “How was your first day of being a senior?”

“In a word? _Marvelous_.”

“Wow. That good?”

“Yes. There’s a certain power to being a senior and knowing that in one year you’ll be done with school forever…” Tracy popped up in Lydia’s mind. “But, you know, it wasn’t _perfect_.” Lydia remembered the look on Parrish’s face when he’d checked Tracy’s roof, one trying so hard to restrain his fear. She frowned. “This girl is having night terrors… Nothing major.” She hoped.

“Oh. Well. I hope she feels better.”

“Me too.” Lydia tapped her pencil some more, staring off into space. Ah, who cared if she forgot Parrish’s coffee? Lydia started packing her bags. “Hey, Allison, I’m coming to get you.”

“What?”

“It’s not good for you to be cooped up in that house. Unless you and Scott are having a serious bonding moment, I’m going to come get you so we can drive around and talk because I’ve really freaking missed you.” Lydia didn’t wait to hear Allison’s confirmation, hanging up her phone and rushing to her car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again thanks for reading, and tell me what you think por favor! Or if you have ideas/theories I'd love to hear 'em. Also, I won't skim over every scene, but I might do most of the on-screen ones until we get deeper into season five.


	4. Aloft

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “People don’t just rise from the grave. Peter had to manipulate you to bring Derek to him to come back himself, and he’s a werewolf. A former alpha. I’m just… human.” Lydia’s lips pursed as she absorbed Allison’s words. The cogs in the banshee’s mind seemed to be turning. “I just feel like me coming back isn’t as good a thing as we’d all want it to be… I feel like something bad is going to happen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> random update between classes.... thanks for the interest!

With the radio blaring and their windows down, Lydia and Allison drove around Beacon Hills. Scott had insisted Allison wear a hat at the very least, something to partially cover her identity. Lydia had rolled her eyes at the floppy sunhat Allison left the McCall house in, but didn’t comment on that. No, the redhead ( _strawberry blonde,_ Stiles’s voice penetrated Allison’s thoughts) had been much more concerned about the tank top and sweatpants Allison wore.

“Are those Scott’s?” Lydia had asked, knowing full well the question would make Allison uncomfortable (which it did).

“Uh… where are we going?” And that had been the end of it.

They didn’t really have a particular destination in mind, Allison realized, as the two cruised through the Beacon Hills streets. This wasn’t a problem to Allison. It was nice, being able to see how Beacon Hills had been doing during her absence, to see the high school, the vet clinic, even the hospital (though Allison knew better than to actually go inside of there—the place was basically jinxed).

“It’s so good to have you back, Allison,” Lydia spoke up. “You have no idea how much I missed you. We all did.” Allison looked to her hands. They still seemed a little too pale to her, a little too cold. But they were living hands, moving hands. Hands she shouldn’t have had. “I know that it must be hard, coming back, but I’m just glad that—”

“I shouldn’t be here.” Lydia took a moment to glance at Allison.

“What?” Allison turned her hands over, stared at her shaking palms.

“I shouldn’t… I shouldn’t _be_ here, Lydia.” Her fear was leaking out, made her voice tremble. And Allison hated sounding scared, but she couldn’t help it, she was. “Lydia, I died that night.”

“I know,” Lydia muttered, fingers tightening around the steering wheel.

“So, why am I here?” Allison asked. “People don’t just rise from the grave. Peter had to manipulate you to bring Derek to him to come back himself, and he’s a _werewolf._ A former alpha. I’m just… human.” Lydia’s lips pursed as she absorbed Allison’s words. The cogs in the banshee’s mind seemed to be turning. “I just feel like me coming back isn’t as good a thing as we’d all want it to be… I feel like something bad is going to happen.”

“Now, I’m the one who’s supposed to predict that.”

“Lydia, I’m serious.” Lydia shrugged.

“I don’t know, Allison. What’s the last thing you remember?” If only she knew. Trying to remember the time after she’d died was pretty much futile. Everything was muddled, unclear. The only thing she knew _for sure_ was that it hadn’t been pleasant.

“I don’t know,” Allison moaned, “I wish I did. But I’d feel awful knowing that me being alive put anyone in danger.”

“It won’t,” Lydia assured Allison. “It’s going to be fine, Allison.” The look in Lydia’s eyes didn’t quite have the same positivity. Allison sighed and messed with the tips of her fingers, tried to keep them from shaking. Lydia didn’t say anything, just kept driving. Then, blowing out a puff of air, she made a U-turn at the next light.

“Where are you going?” Allison asked.

“Remember that girl I told you about? With the night terrors?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I kind of am supposed to meet the town Deputy at her house because we saw some pretty weird things on her roof.”

“Weird things…?”

“Claw marks. Dead birds. The usual signs of supernatural happenings.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah…” Allison’s interest was piqued. After what had happened to her, she probably should’ve stayed as far away from the supernatural as possible. Even with that being said, Allison nodded her head. She wasn’t just a hunter, she was a guardian. If someone in Beacon Hills needed protecting…

“I could come,” Allison offered. “Better than sitting at Scott’s.” Lydia made a face. Not a good sign.

“True… but are you sure you’re up for it? Scott would kill me if I took you somewhere potentially dangerous.”

“Lydia, I can take care of myself.”

“I know, but…”

“Lydia.”

“Allison, we just got you back. Can’t we be worried about you for, like, five seconds? Please?” Allison crossed her arms. “I promise I will make it up to you. We’ll go for ice cream and… and _shopping_!”

“That sounds like a Lydia activity.” Lydia’s desperate frown melted Allison’s heart. “…But I will be willing to go. I can’t wear Scott’s clothes all the time.” Even if they were incredibly comfortable and smelled just like him. But Allison didn’t say that.

“Okay. I’m sorry. I’ll just take you back now…” Allison still sighed. “…But first we have to get some coffee. Here, can you text the deputy? Let him know I’ll be there around midnight?”

“Yeah, sure,” Allison murmured, taking Lydia’s phone from her purse.

*

_“Why can’t you trust anyone?”_

_“Because you trust_ everyone _!”_

*

Scott’s mom was still at work, so who’s car was sitting in front of his house? Lydia hadn’t said anything when she’d dropped Allison off, not even taking a second glance at the car. It clearly wasn’t Stiles, so who else would visit Scott at such a time?

Though truthfully, Allison knew the answer to this question.

She just didn’t want to think about it.

Taking her floppy hat off, Allison made her way to the front door, knocking on it only two times before it swung open. But it wasn’t Scott who answered, but Kira Yukimura. Allison bit the inside of her cheek before smiling.

“Hey,” Allison greeted.

“Hi, Allison.” Kira stepped aside to let Allison in the house. Allison kept her head down as she walked in.

Kira Yukimura… Allison didn’t know much about her. Unfortunately, the two had only really had time together when Isaac and the twins were trying to kill them. She knew Kira was a nice person just as she knew Kira had something with Scott. How far that ‘something’ progressed, Allison didn’t know.

She hoped not that far.

But seeing how disheveled Kira’s shirt was, and how her lip stick was ever so slightly smudged, Allison knew that was a vain wish. She almost clutched her chest from the sharp pain.

 

“You were out with Lydia?” Kira asked curiously as she locked the door.

“Yeah… we just drove around, we didn’t do anything really fun.”

“Ah. So no clubbing?” At least it seemed that she was trying to be nice. Allison smiled at Kira’s joke.

“Unfortunately not. What about you? What are you and, uh, Scott doing?” The light blush coloring Kira’s cheeks pretty much confirmed Allison’s suspicions.

“Oh, you know, we were just doing some, uh… extra studying. We have a test tomorrow. A big one. And it’s an AP class, so naturally—”

“It’s fine, Kira,” Allison waved off the girl’s desperate explanations. “Whatever’s going on between you and Scott, I’m… glad.” Except she wasn’t. Kira’s eyes widened.

“You are?”

“Yeah,” Allison lied, “I’m glad he moved on with someone who cares about him, and I have a feeling you do.” Kira didn’t seem to know what to say; it took her a second.

“So you’re… you’re okay with it?” Not at all. But Allison smiled and nodded.

“Of course.” The lie tasted so wrong on her lips. Also, it probably wasn’t smart to give the couple their blessing knowing how much it’d hurt in the future. But what right did she have trying to separate them? She’d been gone— _dead_ —for months. And before that…

Blonde hair and blue eyes filled Allison’s mind. Isaac, the boy she cared about. Loved? Probably not. But he liked her, he was in _awe_ of her. More, he needed her, Strong Allison. Scott, Scott really didn’t need Strong Allison. He operated like she was still the same weak girl he’d fallen in love with, and, at that time, Allison thought she couldn’t live with that. Now…

“Is there anything to eat in this house besides sandwiches?” Allison asked. Food always made her feel better. Well, usually… Kira smiled.

“Uh, we can order in?” Well, that was better than sandwiches.

“Cool.”

“Any food in particular?”

“I have the weirdest craving for sushi right now. Do you think Scott would be okay with that?”

“Scott would do anything if it’d make you happy.” The sentence left Kira’s mouth before the girl even knew she’d said it. Allison blinked at the very idea. “I-I mean… he was just really worried about you today. Which he should’ve been considering… but I just meant he wants to make sure you’re adjusting okay and I’m going to go upstairs and ask him about the sushi now so… bye. For now.” And Kira hurried up the stairs, shoulders hiked up to her ears in embarrassment.

Allison, she was still kind of stunned to be honest.

_Scott would do anything if it’d make you happy._

…Yeah right.

*

_"There's something I gotta tell you..."  Liam stiffened, preparing for the worst. Mason's eyes lit up._

_"You're a werewolf!"_

*

As Theo washed the bloody hammer in the sink, his mind traveled to the conversation he’d overheard Scott having with Kira during class, the one about Allison. Knowing she was here would be a bit problematic if her memories stayed blocked, but he figured her presence was better than nothing.

At least she was still alive. And she’d remain that way.

Until her usefulness ran out, of course.


	5. Assuage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> filler update to say that when I post episode based chapters, it might take longer to update as I'll try to put the whole episode in it... just heads up!! Also thanks for the continued support, I will reply to comments (eventually).

_Hard to breathe. She winces with each intake of breath as fire burns down her throat. Make it stop—_

_Her hands shake. They shouldn’t be shaking. She is dead. But she isn’t._

_Why does everything hurt?_

_Choking. Then calmness. Then screaming, loud screaming. But it isn’t her, not this time, they don’t come for her like they used to. Does that mean…?_

_Her hands shake. They shouldn’t be shaking. She’s done this a thousand times now (a thousand times). But they still quiver, still tremble in fear or—_

_Yellow eyes watch her. She stares back._

_“Let me go,” Allison says._

_“Not until you do it,” he says, “not until you promise.” But she can’t, she can’t do_ that _, she loves them (what is love? She doesn’t know it, she’s only been around for a few months…)_

_Her hands shake. Blood. Bodies._

_“Allison!” Scott? Who is Scott? But she knows who he is, of course she does (no, I don’t!)_

_Hands. Shaking. Blood. Everywhere._

Allison screamed. She screamed her throat hoarse. She rolled over, trying to reach for the lamp beside her bed, only to see three figures standing in the corners of the guest bedroom. _Oh my…_ The burning from her dreams returned, pushing hot fire down her throat, cinching it, making her unable to scream. No, Allison just sat there, staring at the looming shadows. Her fingers fisted the bedsheet.

“ _Condition terminal_.” The figures dove for her. Allison screamed again.

“Allison, Allison!” Strong hands grabbed onto her. “Allison!” Allison opened her eyes. Scott’s brown eyes were looking into hers, eyes she knew, eyes that instantly started to calm her down. “Allison…” Scott’s voice was thick with worry. “Are you okay?” Taking inventory of the room to make sure it was just her and Scott there, Allison nodded.

“I… I’m sorry,” she apologized, looking down. “It’s stupid, I just had a bad dream…” Scott tilted his head, focus entirely on her.

“Want to talk about it?” Allison flinched just recalling the images to her mind. “Ah… maybe later?” Allison nodded. “Okay.” Scott’s thumb rubbed a comforting circle on her forearm. Allison wasn’t sure if Scott knew he was doing it, as his attention seemed to be elsewhere, like he was listening to… something. “Do you think my mom heard that? She’s a heavy sleeper but…”

“I don’t know,” Allison whispered. “Maybe we should just tell her. Tell… everyone.”

“I know… I will.”

“Have you even told Deaton yet?” Scott looked at her. “Sorry. I shouldn’t...” Allison took a breath. “You should go back to sleep. I’m fine, it was just a nightmare or something.” Scott shook his head at Allison’s words.

“I’m not leaving you here like this. Come back to my room.” Allison would’ve declined the offer, had she not caught sight of a shadow from the window, looking like a hand was pressed up against it. Allison stared at the wall the shadow displayed on, heart thudding away in her chest. “Allison?” She looked back to Scott. “Seriously. Come with me.”

He helped her to her feet, which was kind of unnecessary, but Allison let him do it anyway. She didn’t even protest when he reached for her hand, leading her through the dim hallway towards his room. Not that she really needed the guidance. It was nighttime, sure, but Allison could still see her way pretty clearly…

“You can take the bed,” Scott said as they walked into his room. “I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“Scott…” Scott ignored her protests, lightly pushing her onto his bed. Allison frowned. This was wrong. She shouldn’t be kicking Scott out of his bed. It was _his_ after all, never mind the fact that the last time she’d been on that bed they’d been cuddling. “I’ll take the couch,” Allison said.

“All—”

“Scott, are you in there?” Oh no. Without thinking, Allison dove under Scott’s covers as he flung himself towards his bed room door just before Melissa McCall could fully open it.

“Mom!” Scott greeted her, a little too loudly. Allison could just imagine Melissa’s brows furrowing a bit before the woman shook her head and continued.

“Um… is everything alright? I thought I heard screaming?” _Now_ she came down? “I mean, I would’ve been here sooner, but I figured that my son is a werewolf and if there’s any real problems I should probably be armed.”

“Mom… that’s a baseball bat.”

“It works for Stiles.” Allison bit back her laughter. “But, uh, are you okay? You didn’t hear anything strange?”

“Nope,” Scott said quickly, “I’m perfectly fine.” Allison wished she could see what was going on, but even the slightest movement could give her away. “You look tired,” Scott spoke up after a moment, “you should go back to sleep. You work hard, you deserve it.”

“I do, don’t I?”

“Definitley.”

“Hm… okay. I’ll leave you and the person in your bed alone.” _Damn._

“Wh-what person in my—”

“Good night, Scott. G’night, Kira!” And Melissa’s footsteps padded away. Silence followed. Then, Scott let out a breath.

“Um… sorry.” She didn’t know why he was apologizing. Sure, she wasn’t thrilled about being mistaken for Kira, but it could’ve been worse. Allison sat up, throwing the covers off of her so she could appropriately give Scott The Look. He raised his hands in a pacifying manner. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, “I’ll tell her about you tomorrow. I just have to figure out what to say, that’s all.”

“And Deaton?”

“And Deaton.” Allison smiled. She hated having to tiptoe around everywhere, like she was some kind of ghost. Like she was still dead. “Looks like you’re taking the bed, though.” Allison looked down, remembering where she was.

“What? Scott!”

“Nope, too late, you’re already in it.” Okay, she’d try something else, then… Allison got under Scott’s covers, inhaled his scent. He watched her as he sat in the chair a few feet over, a small smile on his face. Allison couldn’t help returning the smile.

“…Thank you, Scott.”

“Get some rest, Allison.” She closed her eyes. Sleep didn’t take her, though, not right away. Instead, Allison waited. She waited until she heard Scott’s breathing slow down, waited until he fell into his own slumber. Crawling out of bed, Allison went to Scott and (with a little more ease than she’d anticipated) moved him into the bed. After tucking him in and, maybe, appraising his face while he wouldn’t notice, Allison sat in the couch herself.

Then she slept.

*

Scott dreamt of Allison for the first time in months.

He woke up disoriented and very unusually swathed in blankets. Huh? How’d he end up in his bed? Scott shifted, turning to his side. As he’d suspected, Allison was unconscious in his chair. _Seriously_? Scott stood up and moved Allison to the bed instead. It didn’t feel right to him, letting a guest take the worse accommodation, especially since it was a girl. _Allison_.

Scott shook away the thoughts that typically came with the name and decided to check his phone. He wasn’t surprised that he’d already gotten texts from Stiles.

_Ay, yo, Scotty! Got big news!_

_My dad’s going on a date! Come down to the station with me after school!_

_My old man’s growin’ up so fast!_

Scott smiled fondly at the three messages, though said fondness wavered when the second wave of messages popped up onto his screen.

_You should totes bring Ally A._

_I mean she’d need a disguise so my dad doesn’t freak…_

_Or she could wait in the car and we could get food after?_

Scott glanced towards the sleeping Allison. She looked so… peaceful. Not at all like she had looked the night before, when she’d been screaming and on the cusp of tears. He’d wanted to hold her in his arms, stroke her hair, tell her it’d all be okay. But he knew that wouldn’t have been right. He had Kira and Allison most likely probably would never feel that way about him again anyway.

_I love you, Scott. Scott McCall._

Ugh! Scott cringed away from the thought of dying Allison before typing out his response.

_It’d be better if she stayed put. Can’t risk anyone seeing her yet._

He eyed his words for a second before pressing send. Then, he sat at his desk to write a note for Allison, telling her that he’d gone to school and to call him if she needed anything. He wondered if she’d be mad at him for leaving without saying goodbye. But she was _sleeping_. Surely she wouldn’t mind…? Still he added ‘didn’t want to wake you’ at the end before signing his full name, crossing that out (who signs their full name on a friendly note?), and re-writing it again because, gosh, that looked awkward. Though, honestly, he’d probably made it worse.

Taking one last look at Allison, Scott walked out of his room and got ready for his day.


	6. Apparation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Let’s just concentrate on catching her first,” Scott amended. Then, he glanced to Allison. “We do have a werewolf hunter now, remember?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i lied, i'm not going to put in a whole episode. Sorry not sorry. Also, thank you, your comments are everything, I just smile and smile when I read them and I should respond to them, though I might starting on this chapter onward because I'm a bad person. But I updated today! So not that bad, right?

Allison spent most of the following day either sleeping or eating the left over sushi. There was something particularly rejuvenating each time she ate the mostly raw fish and then, immediately after, flopped into Scott’s bed to take yet another nap. Honestly, it was the most relaxed she’d been ever since she first opened her eyes on the forest floor. Her joints no longer pained her, her body no longer felt weak… everything just felt _right_.

Perhaps that was why she decided it was high time to call her father.

With shaking hands, Allison dialed his number into the McCall’s house phone, or at least she tried to. The line didn’t connect. Instead of hearing her father’s voice, Allison was greeted with an automated message informing her that the number she was trying to reach was no longer available. She supposed that made sense… Chris Argent had lost everything during his stay in Beacon Hills. Of course he’d leave…

Also, Allison remembered, Lydia had told her that Dad had gone to France after her death, only momentarily returning after Kate had come back to life. Which really wasn’t _ideal_. In all honesty, Allison felt it was somewhat of her obligation to suit up and join her father in his hunt for Kate, but that would first require her _finding_ him. And, also, locating her crossbow…

Huh. Allison didn’t have any of her weapons anymore. Again; not _ideal_. Biting her thumb as she glanced around the walls of Scott’s bedroom, Allison tried to think of a way to rectify that. She didn’t exactly have any money and it was doubtful that Scott would have anything for her… Even with her skills in hand-to-hand combat, the kinds of things Allison wanted to protect people from, wanted to protect her _pack_ from didn’t exactly flinch at the sight of her very human hands.

Maybe Kira would have something…?

_Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!_

“ _Allison!”_

Huh? Allison went to Scott’s bedroom window, peering through the blinds. Down on the front porch stood the ladies of Scott’s pack, Kira, Lydia, and Malia, the latter of which was currently trying to break down Scott’s front door or something.

_Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!_

“Allison!” Malia called. It seemed she was needed. Allison hesitated, glancing around Scott’s room for something somewhat decent for her to wear. Of course, it boiled down to a t-shirt and sweats again, but what was she supposed to do? Take Melissa’s clothes?

As fast as she could, Allison hurried down the stairs to where Malia continued banging on Scott’s door.

“Allison? Alli- _son_! Alli—”

Allison opened the door, brows arched. Malia pulled back her hand before she accidently hit the girl she’d come to get.

“Where’s the fire?” Allison asked.

“We called you,” Lydia said. “You didn’t answer. We got worried.” Kira nodded in agreement. They’d called? Oops.

“I must’ve not heard it,” Allison mused, “I was basically asleep all day. Speaking of, what time is it? Is school over?”

“It’s _been_ over,” Malia replied with a smirk, “but Scott and Stiles are going to see the Sherriff, so Lydia thought it would be a good idea if we all hung out together seeing as you and I never really officially met…” Oh. Right.

“Well, I’m Allison. Which… you knew…”  

“And you already know my name. Let’s go.” Malia turned, ready to start the Girls Day Out. Lydia and Kira however both eyed Allison, or more specifically, her clothes.

“What?” Allison asked, sheepishly tugging at her t-shirt. “I don’t have any clothes.”

“I brought something to help with that.” Lydia shook her arm, an arm holding a suitcase Allison hadn’t noticed until then. Woah.

“Is that all for me?”

“Yes, Sweetie, it is.” Allison’s chest warmed as she took hold of the box. It was not only big but heavy as well. “And don’t worry, they’re all mostly new and in your size. And hopefully your taste. I tried not to go _overly_ Lydia on it.” That was good. Allison wasn’t sure how she’d fair in Lydia’s short skirts and five inch high heels, especially considering their height difference.

“Thank you so much, Lydia. Really.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Lydia waved off Allison’s gratitude with a mean well gesture, “go get dressed. Malia’s really excited to drive, so we’ve gotta get on the road soon.” Allison bobbed her head and hurried in the house to do as she was told.

*

_"Don't worry Daddy. I won't let anything happen to you ever again.”_

*

            “Lydia…?”

            “Yeah?”

            “When you said Malia was driving, I thought,” Allison paused to grab a hold of the passenger seat to steady herself as the car swerved violently to the left, “ _I thought she already knew how to drive_.” Malia paid no mind to Allison’s words as she continued on her quest to kill them all, a bright smile on her face as she bounced excitedly in her seat. _We’re all going to die. I am going to die again._

“Relax,” Lydia mused from her spot up front. “Malia’s doing a lot better.”

“You guys know I can hear you, right?”

“Hey, uh, maybe you should focus on the road?” Kira suggested as Malia started to swerve into the other lane.

“I _am_ focused on the road,” Malia pointed out. “I’m multi-tasking. Stiles does it all the time.”

“Yes, Malia, but driving is something you have to practice,” Lydia pointed out, “you’ve been at it for no more than a month. It’s completely normal to… you just ran a red light.”

“I did?” Malia craned her neck back to look.

“ _Keep your eyes on the road!”_ The three passengers chorused, making Malia whip around with a little pout on her face.

“…People hold their hands at 10 and 2.” Malia glanced at Kira through the rearview mirror.

“Actually the new recommended hand position is 9 and 3 because at 10 and 2 a deployed airbag could break your thumbs.” Alright, graphic. Malia considered this for a second.

“Mine would heal.” Allison laughed at the exasperated look on Lydia’s face. Kira and Lydia continued pestering Malia about her driving (admittedly, her driving did need pestering because sometimes Malia would drive into the woods) until, finally, Allison glanced out the window and realized…

They were driving into the city.

“Um, guys? Where are we going?”

“Towards the school,” Malia said, “If we’re lost though, don’t blame me. I’ve been following Lydia’s directions.” Kira and Allison shared a look.

“The school is the other way,” Kira commented.

“Keep going…” Allison’s eyes flickered to Lydia in an instant. She knew that tone of voice, that faraway, resigned tone she took whenever she felt something. Whenever she felt death. The car became as silent as a graveyard as Malia continued along the sleepy street.

They arrived to their destination a short while later. This did not mean Allison was ready to come across what they had. The four girls exited the car at the sight of a prisoner transport van sitting, seemingly unoccupied, in the middle of the road. The scent of fresh blood hung heavily in the air, causing Allison’s senses to become alert.

“Oh my—”

“Look,” Allison whispers. A bloody hand reaches for them. Lydia pulls out her phone to call an ambulance as Kira and Malia rush to help the injured person.

*

_“Tracy?”_

_“Stewart.” Lydia said in resignation._

*

 

“She was having night terrors…” Eyes shifted to Lydia.

“Now she _is_ the night terror. No one can find her.” Eyes shifted to Stiles.

“Look, I know we’re all tired and miserable.” Eyes shifted to Scott. “…Except for you.” Mason looked around the group of seven other teens, his mouth open in half awe and half amazement. Allison wasn’t sure if the display was irritating or adorable (probably both). Mason’s eyes connected with Allison’s.

“ _You died_!” The glares he received for his rather loud outburst silenced him a little bit, but not enough to keep him from turning to Kira. “And you’re a kitsune! _I don’t even know what that is_!”

“I’m still learning myself,” Kira muttered as Stiles turned his glare to Liam, Scott’s beta (a beta who, every few seconds, would glance at Allison shyly, obviously curious about the dark haired girl who’d suddenly appeared in their pack meeting).

“I told you that you could tell Mason, we didn’t say you could invite him to the inner circle.” They had an inner circle? Correction; they had an _outer_ circle? Mason looked just as intrigued by this concept, but when he asked about it, Stiles and Liam both shut him down. Scott brought everyone’s attention back to Tracy.

“We can find one lone wolf,” he said.

“One lone serial killing wolf,” Malia quipped. Scott made a face at that. Allison did, too. She didn’t know much about this Tracy girl or why on _earth_ she’d kill her father… There wasn’t a single part in Allison’s being that could kill her dad, no matter how callous he could be.

“What are we supposed to do when we catch her?” Stiles asked. When no one had any ideas, Malia piped up again.

“I say we put her down.” _Okay_. Allison looked to Scott to see his reaction, having already anticipated his cringe from the very idea of killing someone.

“Let’s just concentrate on catching her first,” Scott amended. Then, he glanced to Allison. “We do have a werewolf hunter now, remember?” It was a comment meant to lighten the mood, but between the semi-melancholy filled gazes from Lydia and Stiles and the clear mistrust from Liam, Allison wasn’t too sure the task was achieved.

“A werewolf hunter?” Mason asked, eyes going wide.

“I’m more of a _retired_ one,” Allison said with a smile. “I don’t think I ever actually _hunted_ anyone.”

“Isaac and the daggers,” Scott mentioned, to which Allison rolled her eyes at.

“First of all, he was going to fight me, of course I defended myself, and secondly they were actually Chinese Ring Daggers.”

“Who’s Isaac?” Liam asked, just as the school bell clanged overhead.

“Uh, we’ll talk more about all of this after school,” Scott said, “remember, if anything happens, keep in touch.” They broke off, Stiles and Malia heading one way, Lydia and Mason heading another… The two who lingered aside from Allison and Scott were Kira and Liam. Liam hung back, still eyeing Allison.

“So…” Allison’s attention was drawn to Scott. “You look good.” Both Allison and Kira’s eyes narrowed. “I mean, you look better. Brighter.” Oh.

“Well I feel better,” Allison confirmed. “Especially after yesterday. Those burgers were so good, I don’t remember the last time I had beef.”

“I still don’t know how you ate that,” Scott laughed (God, she’d missed that sound), “it was hardly even cooked.”

“I was in the mood for a rare burger, don’t judge me.”

“Alright…” They smiled at each other.

“Anyway, since everyone in the pack knows I’m no longer dead and nothing bad seems to have come from that, I think I should help you guys with this whole Tracy issue.” Scott opened his mouth. “I mean more than advising, Scott. If someone’s going to be ripping people apart, I want to be out there making sure none of you get hurt.”

“Allison, the last time you did that…”

“I know, Isaac and the Oni.” Scott’s face hardened; not a good sign. “Scott, you can’t protect me forever.”

“I can try.” He’d muttered it, but both Allison and Kira (and probably Liam) had heard it.

“She’s strong, Scott,” Kira intervened, stepping forward. “You know she is. I know she is. And she’s right. We need Allison to catch Tracy herself, not kill her. Like you said, she was a hunter.” Scott still looked uneasy.

“You don’t have your cross bow,” he said, “or your bow or your arrows or your… your… the ring knife things.”

“I have some things for her while we work out how to get her old stuff back,” Kira pointed out. “I imagine Argent wouldn’t have gotten rid of them all, right?”

“Should it bother me that you’re taking Allison’s side?”

“No,” Kira said with a coy smile. “But it bothers _me_ you’re not on her side.” Allison knew what she was doing; using her role as Scott’s girlfriend to gain leverage. And that was appreciated, incredibly so, but…

Watching Kira give him that flirty smile as Scott dropped his gaze and bashfully rubbed his neck was kind of a stab to her heart. Actually, it _was_ a stab to her heart, and Allison had to look away to keep from wincing. She made eye contact with the beta, Liam. Why was he still there? Scott seemed to have followed Allison’s line of sight.

“Liam? What are you still doing here?” The shorter boy (freshman? Sophomore? Allison didn’t remember how old Lydia had said he was) bit his lip as he glanced between Scott and Allison.

“I, uh…” Liam took a breath, turned to Allison. “I just wanted to, um, meet you myself. Since you’re Scott’s…” He looked back to Scott for an appropriate word. Scott looked taken aback, blinking as he too tried concocting the proper word to describe Allison. Ex Girlfriend sounded too estranged, but friend didn’t seem strong enough. And certainly Best Friend was reserved specifically for Stiles…

“They’re like partners,” Kira offered. Partners sounded pretty business like, but not necessarily in a bad way.

“Partners,” Scott repeated, frowning a little.

“Partners,” Liam said, too. “Well. I’m Scott’s Beta.”

“Liam,” Allison finished for him, “I know, they told me about you.” Liam’s eyes widened.

“Good stuff or bad?” 

“Um… I’m not telling you. But here’s a hint; next full moon, try to at least wear boxers.” Liam’s face exploded in color as he rushed off. The three seniors (or two seniors and one would-be-senior) laughed and laughed and Allison kind of worried it’d be the last one she’d have until they figured out what to do with Tracy.

*

_“I know why we couldn’t find Tracy last night,” Parrish informed the Sheriff, “she was busy killing her psychiatrist.”_

*

The plan was for the pack to stay in mostly one area that day in case Tracy showed up to school. That was why Allison hung around the back of the building, hood pulled up and messing with a particularly sharp knife she’d pilfered from Scott’s kitchen. At the moment, it was her primary means of protecting herself against Tracy. As meager as it was, Allison knew she could work with it. She’d worked with less, honestly.

But sitting around her old school wasn’t that much exciting than sitting in Scott’s house. It wasn’t like she could really talk to anyone with risking the whole ‘Aren’t you Allison Argent? Shouldn’t you be dead’ thing. So she hung in the shadows of a particularly large tree and checked Scott’s phone (which he’d given her to keep her in the loop) every few seconds in hopes that something would pop up.

As it turned out, she hadn’t really needed to.

One moment, everything was calm and peaceful. The next, an alarm was warbling through the sky and students and teachers alike were pouring out of the front doors of Beacon Hills High. Allison stiffened, scanning the crowd to find anyone from the pack. No Stiles, no Lydia, no Malia, no Kira…

No Scott.

Allison’s grip tightened on the knife as she raced towards the building, ready for anything. As she rushed down the halls, passed the few stragglers ambling towards the exits, Allison saw Scott, Stiles, Kira’s Dad, and Malia scurrying in the other direction. In Scott’s arms was a girl she hardly recognized. _Tracy_?

“Hey!” Allison called out as she raced after them. “Is that her?”

“We’ve got to get her to Deaton,” Scott said, not slowing down.

“I’m coming with you,” Allison said.

“No!”

“Scott—”

“It’s too dangerous,” Scott said as he picked up speed, probably trying to outrun her (yeah right, McCall). “Stay here with Kira and Lydia, find information… I’ll call you later!” Allison slowed down as the four (plus Tracy) took the back exit. She wished she could say Scott brushing her aside hadn’t hurt her. She wished in vain. Slipping the knife back into her sleeve, Allison cursed and turned to find Lydia.

*

_“So he’s a werewolf, too?”_

_“Yup.”_

_“This just keeps getting better and better.”_

*

Mr. Yukimura provided them with enough of a distraction that Malia, Stiles, and Scott could slip away from the school undetected. A blessing really. Stiles drove his jeep away from their high school, Scott in the passenger seat with Malia in the back, Tracy on her lap. Malia didn’t particularly like this arrangement, having the killer were wolf girl unconscious on top of her, but whenever she tried arguing about, Scott would come to Tracy’s defense. Always the hero (though Malia kind of admired that about him).

The car ride had been silent, but Malia could smell a particularly interesting chemo-signal coming from Stiles. Something like curiosity and uncertainty… suspicion? She tilted her head in wonder as Stiles’s eyes darted towards his best friend.

“Hey, Scott?”

“Yeah?”

“…Why do you keep pushing Allison away?” Scott had not been prepared for that question, it seemed, as he very visibly and very violently flinched into his seat.

“I’m not pushing her away? Why would you ask that?”

“No reason… it’s just that you keep trying to isolate her from this and, you know, that makes sense, I worry about her, too, but you know Allison can help us with this. We all know that.” Stiles’s hands tightened around the wheel a little bit. “Do you still l—”

“It’s _nothing_ , Stiles,” Scott snapped. A beat passed.

“…Sorry, man, just, you know, just asking…” Malia watched with interest as the two boys clammed up, Stiles probably thinking about Scott’s reaction and Scott… she didn’t know what he was thinking. But what was with that reaction about? What was Scott ‘still’? Malia knew better than to ask about it at the moment, but she would later, when it was just her and Stiles. Because she rather liked Allison, and if there was bad blood between her and Scott, wasn’t it her job to help them get over it? Wasn’t that what pack did?

She figured it was.

They arrived at the Animal Clinic shortly after that, Scott carrying the limp Tracy in with that look on his face he got whenever he really wanted to help someone. Deaton didn't falter, opening the little gate for them and ushering them to the back, where all the veterinarian/supernatural stuff occurred. Malia watched with rapt interest as Deaton began examining Tracy, looking at her eyelids and checking her pulse... legitimate doctoring stuff. Deaton observed the silver fluid Tracy was secreting ( _um_?). 

"It  _looks_ like mercury."

"Can't you just give her a shot?" Malia asked.

"I don't really have anything to deal with mercury poisoning..."

"I meant a shot to kill her." Deaton looked up from what he was doing.

"I generally prescribe to a code of ethics that frowns upon such measures." _Well forgive me of being wary of the girl who killed two people._ Which ultimately reminded Malia of her own family. Which made her become very quiet for a second.  _I didn't have control, it was a full moon, that's different..._ She hoped. 

"We're not going to kill Tracy," Scott said in his Alpha Voice. Malia considered that for about two seconds.

"How do we know she's not going to kill us?"

"And I kind of have to let my dad know we've found her," Stiles added (which probably put a damper on the whole lethal injection plan but whatever). But then Deaton did what Malia thought was a particularly not  _sciencey smart_ thing. He threw moutain ash towards the doorway, thus keeping them all inside. With the killer werewolf girl. Who could, at any moment, wake up and wreak havoc. 

Malia was starting to think it was a bad idea, not bringing Allison along. 

 

 


	7. Anomoly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finished 5x03! I'm going to try and do two chapters per episode, but we know how good I am at that. Also! Important message: the wifi is extra spotty so I actually have a logical excuse for my absence this time! But Thank God I found an ethernet cord, lol. Not much Scallison... but next chapter.... (coughs violently)

On the bright side, staying with Lydia and Kira was turning out to be not _totally_ uneventful. Allison trailed behind the two girls as they walked up Tracy Stewart’s staircase. They were looking for clues, Lydia had told her. Clues for what, Allison didn’t really know, so she figured keeping her eyes out for anything out of the ordinary would have to suffice.

“Um,” Kira started as the trio approached Tracy’s room. “Isn’t this a crime scene?” Lydia rolled her eyes.

“ _No_.” Upon opening the door, the three girls were greeted by bright cautionary tape. Allison and Kira both turned to Lydia. “…Don’t think about it.” Lovely. Despite her reservations of breaking the law, Allison was the first in the room, scanning it with keen eyes.

“Do we know what to look for?” she asked Lydia, only for the smaller girl to shrug her shoulders.

“I’m just following a feeling.”

“You’re feelings usually lead to dead bodies,” Kira pointed out. Lydia considered this for a moment.

“…Well, let me know if you find one.” Allison bit back a grin. Oh, Lydia and her wit. 

*

_“Don’t worry, Stiles. Tracy won’t be able to cross that line.” Stiles turned his amber eyes on Deaton._

_“That’s what I’m afraid of.”_

*

Liam was thinking about Allison. Not in a creepy way. But in a ‘why hasn’t Scott really mentioned her before’ kind of way. Of course, he’d heard the name before in passing. Every once in a while, Stiles or Lydia would bring up the mysterious name, and all eyes would shift from Scott who’d tense up at the very mention of it…

But other than that, Liam never knew about the girl. And now she was back, making jokes, and seemingly apart of the pack and he hadn’t even known about it. He wasn’t really sure if that bothered him, or maybe he was a little curious about the way Scott looked at her, like he’d be willing to take a mountain ash lined bullet for her.

_Hm…_

“Cute,” Brett was saying, dragging Liam back to the present situation of Tracy Stewart the killer werewolf, “but I’ve never seen her.” Liam looks back to the picture of Tracy, smiling Tracy, a girl who looked no more like she could kill her father than Mason could. _Looks can be deceiving, I guess_. Allison popped up in his mind.

“So Satomi couldn’t have turned her without you knowing?” Liam asked Brett, but the taller teen was already shaking his head.

“After the dead pool incident, she’s not really doing much recruiting.” There went that lead…

“Is that how it works?” Mason piped up. “Alphas just go around biting people?”

“Or you can be born like me and my sister,” Brett answered, and Liam was a little curious as to why Brett had become so fond of Mason considering what a jerk he used to be ( _okay, so maybe he wasn’t_ that _bad anymore, but still…_ ). “Satomi took us in after our family died in a fire.” And now Liam felt bad.

Luckily, something on Tracy’s photo distracted him enough so he didn’t have to say anything. The leaf necklace around Tracy’s neck… he’d seen it before!

“What?” Mason asked, noticing the spark in Liam’s eyes. “Notice something?”

“Her necklace,” Liam said, “I saw it in the forest! In the hole!”

“Hole…?”

“C’mon!” Liam dragged Mason away, with Brett tagging along right behind them.

*

_“Tracy isn’t a werewolf,” Stiles realized, eyes growing in horror. “She’s a kanima.”_

_All hell broke loose._

*

The sun had set and they were still in Tracy’s room. By now, Allison was noticing that her headache was coming back, along with the other aches and pains she’d had the first day. _Ugh,_ she really needed to eat something… She closed the drawer she’d been looking in, irritated she hadn’t found anything of interest yet.

“Hey…” Kira turned, holding up what appeared to be a dreamcatcher. “It’s a gift,” Kira clarified as Lydia approached to examine it. “From her dad. He was trying to help her with her night terrors...” Again the question arose, _why did Tracy kill him_? But Lydia had the look on her face, that thinking look, the look that produced ideas.

“You know, there have been cases where people murdered their entire families while in a night terror. They didn’t even realize they were doing it. It’s called homicidal somnambulism.” Allison did not like the direction Lydia’s thoughts were going in.

“So you’re saying what, Tracy doesn’t know she’s killing people?” Allison asked. Lydia looked at her.

“She’s still in a night terror.” That didn’t sound good at all.

“How do we get her out of the night terror?” Kira asked. A logical question. Allison turned to Lydia, though her friend seemed unsure herself.

“Wait, if she’s just in a night terror, why is she attacking the people who helped her?” Allison asked. Kira and Lydia shared a brief, horrified look.

“Her psychiatrist and her father,” Kira said. “Maybe that’s why she was at the school today—maybe someone else who was there had tried helping her!” Lydia’s skinned paled.

“I think I know who she was after.”

“Who?” Allison asked. Lydia looked to Allison, eyes widening in fear.

“My mother.”

*

" _It doesn't have to mean I'm part of the pack. Like you've accepted me or anything like that_."

“ _…okay.”_

*

 

“Mom!” Lydia cried as she, Kira, and Allison blew through the station’s door, but it was too late. Tracy was already there. For a moment, Allison’s mind wandered to the animal clinic, to Scott and the others. What had happened? Were they alright…?

_What was Tracy doing on the ceiling with a reptilian tail?_

“I thought she was a werewolf,” Allison said, pulling out her ‘trusty’ kitchen knife.

Tracy chose that opportune moment to propel off of the ceiling and towards Ms. Martin. Sheriff Stilinski made an effort to fight him off, but with a flick of her tail, Tracy scratched him. The man’s knees buckled and he collapsed to the ground. _Great,_ Allison thought, _kanima._ Her irritation ebbed when she saw Kira grab for her belt, whipping it out into a sword (Allison had to remember to allot a point in the near future to fangirl over how cool that was). With a battle cry, Kira dove in. Allison watched to make sure Lydia ran to a safe spot before following after Kira.

It had certainly been a while since her last battle. Allison was pleased to see how good it felt to be active again. She was even more pleased to find that she and Kira still worked well together, Kira successfully blocking attacks from Tracy’s tail that would’ve otherwise incapacitated Allison and Allison masterfully wielding her knife to deliver non-lethal blows in an attempt to slow the kamina girl down.

Tracy flipped around Kira at one point and dove for Allison. Allison’s hand tightened around the knife’s handle as she prepared to defend herself. But just as Tracy got to her, just as Allison prepared to swing, an earsplitting ache sliced through her head and all Allison could hear was a debilitating static sound that drove her to her knees.

“Allison!” she heard Kira’s voice from what sounded like faraway as the huntress held the sides of her head, tried focusing.

“ _Condition terminal_ ,” she heard the robotic voices grind out. “ _condition terminal.”_ Her dream, her nightmare. The figures. Allison shut her eyes, tried blocking out the images. “ _Condition terminal, condition terminal.”_

“Stop it,” Allison told herself, “ _stop it_!” But it kept coming, it kept hurting…

Until she heard Lydia scream in pain. The voices in her head ceased almost instantly at the sound of her best friend’s cry, at her mother’s panicked shout of ‘ _Lydia!’_ Allison spun around in time to see Tracy skittering away from Lydia, who’d fallen to the ground holding her side. Her bloody side.

“ _Lydia!”_ Allison cried, echoing Ms. Martin, and dove for her friend. “Lydia, oh my God, I--” The red fluid seeped through Lydia’s fingers in a way Allison couldn’t describe… _Focus, Allison_. Allison placed shaky hands against Lydia’s wound, cursing as she did so. “It’s going to be okay, Lydia,” Allison said, “just hold on and don’t move.” Lydia blinked her eyes, already going glossy from blood loss. _No, no, no_. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This was exactly why Allison wanted to be there, and she’d failed already!

Allison felt her eyes watering as Lydia’s blood pooled through the cracks of her fingers, staining her hands in red. Deep red. Red that’s scent was strong, red that’s scent wafted, filling Allison’s head with it’s aroma. _With death._ Allison struggled to focus.

Kira was performing an array of sword moves, preparing to attack Tracy, when an aura, fiery in nature, erupted out of her body. Suffice to say, that almost shocked Allison enough to cause her to jump back. Almost. Lydia’s fragile heart beat strong in Allison’s ears, grounding her to the very real situation before her.

While Allison worried, Kira made a swift slice of her katana, cutting of Tracy’s tail. Allison’s brows rose as the kanima scurried away. _That was unexpected._ The thought was muted though, drowned out by Lydia’s heart. _Please keep beating. Please keep beating._

“Lydia, hold on,” Allison murmured, “it’ll be okay.” She wasn’t sure who she was talking to more, but it helped some when Kira came sliding up beside her. For a moment, Kira paused to stare at Allison (that didn’t make sense because Kira had just been engulfed in foxfire or whatever, Allison wasn’t the one to be stared at like that). “What?” Allison asked, a little more abrasively than she’d intended.

“You’re eyes,” Kira began.

“What about them?” This was a hell of a time to talk about eye color. Kira stared at Allison some more, shook her head, just as Malia came in. _Thank God._ “Where’s Scott?” Allison asked, almost immediately (and yes, that garnered another look from Kira). Malia didn’t answer, hesitating to gawk at Lydia.

“It’s not that bad,” Lydia struggled to speak up, which kind of proved how bad it was ( _she just kept_ bleeding _and_ bleeding). “She’s still dreaming,” Lydia tried again, “she thinks it’s a dream…”

“It’s okay, Lydia,” Kira said softly, but Lydia kept trying, kept staring up at Malia as her skin paled to a ghastly color. _Please keep breathing, Lydia._

“You have to explain… you have to get her to understand she’s not asleep… You have to… Malia…” Malia swallowed, nodded her head. Then she left. Allison wasn’t sure if she stopped to talk to the Sheriff. Her attention was back on Lydia, on Lydia’s blood, on Lydia’s heart. _Please don’t die._

 _“Condition is terminal.”_ Allison grounded her teeth against the voice in her head, _that_ voice. _Please don’t die, Lydia. Please don’t die._

*

_Malia watched, helpless and horrified, as Tracy bled silver and fell to the ground._

_“Condition is Terminal” echoed in her head._

_“Condition is terminal.”_


	8. Arise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What’s wrong?” Scott asked. Kira stared at him. She didn’t have to say anything for the message to translate. “Kira, there’s nothing going on between me and Allison.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update for you all :) Thank you for reading!

The first thing Scott saw when him, Stiles, and Theo ran into the Sheriff’s station was blood. The red liquid shone against the linoleum floor, stuck out in Scott’s mind, flashed as a warning sign. _Allison_. It was instinct to think of her, to fear that Tracy had hurt her. But he couldn’t lose her, not again.

“Allison!” Scott called out as he rounded the corner, only to see Stiles’s dad struggling to get to his feet. Scott hurried to help the Sheriff up, his eyes scanning the room for the huntress. What he saw had his stomach going cold.

“I’m fine,” Allison said, not looking up at Scott. “But, Lydia.” Lydia… Scott’s jaw tightened. _Oh no_.

 “Hey, what’s going…” Stiles’s voice trailed off as he froze just in front of Scott, his eyes locked on where Lydia Martin, the girl he used to be in love with, bled out on the floor. Scott could clearly hear how Stiles’s breathing labored, could smell the immediate terror wafting off of him. Even though Stiles’s back was to him, Scott could picture the fear in Stiles’s eyes, could imagine how his lips would tremble, his eyes would glisten with tears…

Theo pushed passed both Scott and Stiles, whipping off his belt and falling to Lydia’s side. Part of Scott wasn’t sure what Theo was about to do. Part of him was too concerned to ask. He decided to try to help the Sheriff to his feet, though he did notice that Stilinski was staring over where the others were. Where Allison was. _Oh…_

 _“_ Is that…?” Stilinski met Scott’s guilty gaze.

“Sheriff,” Scott said. It was the only thing he could answer with. Sheriff Stilinski shut his eyes, like he was trying to block out the whole world.

“Natalie,” the man muttered.

“Malia’s helping her,” Scott said, and, as he tilted his head, he could hear the woman’s heels approaching. “Can you go to her? I need to get Allison…”

“Ah,” the Sheriff cringed at Allison’s name. “I can try…” Scott turned back to where Lydia bled out, glancing at Stiles. The brown haired boy hadn’t moved a muscle.

“Stiles,” Scott called out, “Allison. We need to go.” Scott noticed that Theo glanced in Allison’s direction. The two hadn’t met, but Scott wasn’t exactly sure if that’d be the best idea or not. It wasn’t like Theo was pack yet. Or, like he ever would be, Stiles’s voice rang, but Scott knew it was in his head because Stiles still wasn’t moving. It was like the boy believed the steps he took away from Lydia would make her bleed out faster. It was like he thought if he went away, she would, too.

Scott sincerely hoped that wasn’t the case.

“Stiles,” Scott tried again, placing a hand on Stiles’s shoulder.

“She’s going to be fine,” Theo spoke up. Glanced at Allison again as he tightened his belt above Lydia’s stab wound. Scott didn’t particularly like Theo’s apparent interest. Stiles still didn’t move. Just stood and stared at Lydia stubbornly, a mountain standing against the wind.

“I’m fine,” Lydia managed to utter. “Help Tracy… help Tracy.”

“Lydia!” Ms. Martin’s voice rang out. Allison jumped to action at Lydia’s mother’s shout, putting her head down and running towards Stiles and Scott. Stiles seemed to awaken as Allison blurred passed him, following after her. Scott took one last glance towards the scene, where Kira was now holding Lydia’s wound shut, where Theo was trying to save her, where ambulance sirens were approaching.

“We need to go, Scott,” Deaton said in his ear. Scott’s jaw tightened. Then, he headed to the basement.

What Scott found made his insides tighten.

More blood. Silver. Malia staring down at a body, Tracy’s body.  When she heard the others approaching, Malia looked up, her eyes widening in fear.

“It wasn’t me,” Malia started, noticing the looks of doubt and horror on her friends’ faces. “I swear it wasn’t me.” But who else could it have been? It was just Malia and Tracy in the basement. And now Tracy was dead.

“What happened?” Scott asked, a little more hostile than he’d intended. Malia flinched at his anger.

“There were these people, three of them, in masks.” Malia’s eyes turned to her boyfriend, desperate. “I didn’t kill Tracy.” Scott wasn’t so sure, but then he felt someone brush passed him. Allison.

“In masks?” Allison began to ask, but then Deaton pointed out how Tracy wasn’t changing back and Scott’s attention was dragged elsewhere, back to Tracy’s body. Her small, fragile body. The body of his fellow senior, or someone he should’ve been able to protect. Scott’s hands tightened into angry fists.

“We’re going to need to get her out of here,” Deaton observed as he turned over one of Tracy’s hands delicately.

“Absolutely _not_!” Sheriff exclaimed as he hobbled into the room. Allison rushed to stand beside Scott, probably hoping to hide behind his frame. Scott didn’t have the heart to tell her the Sheriff had already caught a glimpse of her trying to help Lydia and was more than likely trying his best to forget he had. “This is a crime scene. We call the coroner.” Deaton narrowed his eyes.

“I think the coroner might be very confused by this girl’s severed reptilian tail.”  Stiles’s dad’s face turned red in anger.

“I don’t care,” the man spat out. Scott dipped his head. He hated when the Sheriff got mad and could only imagine how Stiles was feeling, standing only a few feet away.

“Then I suppose you’ll be having a press conference about all of the supernatural happenings this town has experienced?” Deaton challenged, turning a weathered eye on Stilinski. The police officer tightened his jaw in defiance, clearly not open to budging on the matter.

“Dad,” Stiles tried, taking a step forward, “Deaton’s right.” The Sheriff eyed Stiles, but at least he looked a little less pissed.

“Yeah,” Scott agreed, “if we take her back to the clinic, we might be able to change her back. Then, we’ll call the coroner.” The Sheriff stared at Scott for a moment then glanced to Stiles, Malia, Deaton… his eyes rested on the spot where Allison was hiding for a moment too long. The man turned away and shivered.

“There is a line…” The Sheriff shook his head. “There is a _line_ we have to draw.”

“Dad, we’ve already crossed that line multiple times,” Stiles reminded the older man.

“Let me help,” Deaton pleaded the Sheriff, who didn’t really look any more comfortable with the matter at hand than he had ten seconds prior. Nonetheless, the man let out a heavy sigh and waved them off.

“Just make it fast,” the man grumbled as Scott bent to scoop Tracy’s body up in his arms. Before straightening up all the way, he noticed Stilinski look straight at Allison. She looked back at him with wide eyes, unsure of what to do. The Sheriff opened his mouth. Closed it. Turned and walked away.  

A pained silence persisted. Finally, after the excruciating moment, Deaton stood up.

“It’s nice to see you again, Allison.” Said huntress paled at Deaton’s statement.

“Um… you too… I guess?” Deaton smiled at her.

“You’re not freaking out?” Stiles asked. “I kind of freaked out when I saw her.”

“Part of me wants to figure out just how she came back to life,” Deaton admitted. “But in light of the current situation, I’m opting to just appreciate how nice it is to see her face again.” Scott could live with that. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been avoiding that particular predicament himself. “Anyway. Scott, let me handle Tracy. You need to check on Lydia and get Allison out of here.” At the mention of Lydia’s name, Stiles paled again.

Right, Lydia. Allison turned to Scott in a second, eyes widening.

“We need to make sure she’s okay,” Allison said, “I need to know that she’s not hurt.” Stiles looked to Scott in the same, wide eyed manner Allison was. He wished he could offer them some assurance, say that Lydia would be alright in his alpha voice and have it happen.

But he couldn’t.

“Let’s go see,” Scott said, and after he handed Tracy over to Deaton, him, Stiles, Malia, and Allison hurried back up the stairs… only to see that the station was empty save for Kira and Theo. Kira was kneeling on the floor, staring at the pool of blood Lydia had been lying in. Theo sat next to her, patting her gently on the back.

“Where is she?” Allison demanded, shoving passed Scott to storm over to where Kira and Theo were. “Where’s Lydia?”

“The ambulance took her,” Theo answered, looking up at Allison. Scott noticed the way Allison’s steps faltered at the sight of Theo, noticed her eyes widen.

“Do I know you?” Allison said. Theo smiled.

“It’s good to see you again, Allison.”

“You two know each other?” Stiles asked. Scott glanced at Allison, watched her brows furrow in confusion as Theo nodded his head.

“We used to go to school together after I moved away. Remember?” Allison blinked.

“Um…”

“C’mon, Allison. You were in the archery club. I watched you practice.” Scott intervened then, having crossed the room without hardly even noticing.

“We need to check up on Lydia,” he glowered, making sure to step between Theo and Allison. Theo tilted his head at Scott’s display, which had kind of came out of nowhere, but Scott figured it was too late to take it back. Kira pursed her lips at Scott. Allison didn’t seem all that impressed by his actions either.

“We should,” Allison echoed, easing her way around Scott (though neglecting to break eye contact). It was a warning, loud and clear. _I can take care of myself, Scott._ He could practically hear her snap that at him. Scott opened his mouth to apologize, but Theo was already standing up and getting Allison attention with one of his too-pretty smiles.

“I can take you,” he offered Allison, “it’d be good if we could catch up on old times.”

“She can’t go to the hospital.” Kira had said it, but Scott had been about to as well.

“What? Why not?” Allison asked, irritation in her eyes.

“They’d recognize you,” Kira muttered, still staring at the blood. “You should go back to Scott’s house. Wait for us there.” Allison opened her mouth to protest.

“I’ll drop you off there,” Theo offered. “When I get back to the hospital, I’ll let you know how she’s doing. If I could have your number…?”

“My house phone,” Scott answered for Allison. “I should probably drop Allison off, though, you might not remember the way to my house…”

“I remember,” Theo assured Scott (though he _really_ didn’t need assuring at that moment). “Anyway, I think you need to check up on Liam. He’s been gone for a while, hasn’t he?” Before Scott could comment, he felt his phone vibrate. _Please don’t be Liam, please don’t be Liam, please don’t be Liam._ Scott checked the message.

_Scott! I have something really important to tell you, please pick me up!_

It was Liam.

Scott might’ve pouted as he watched Theo leading Allison away.

 

 *

_"His condition looks promising." They used pliers to abruptly and painfully rip out Donovan’s teeth. He felt fangs sprouting through his gums as he struggled and screamed for someone to save him._

*

Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital.

Scott couldn’t say he was happy to be there, but at least they _could_ take Lydia there, rather than the morgue. So he burst in with a little less anxiety than he could have, he supposed. The news Liam brought, however, wasn’t exactly cathartic either.

“Tracy was buried alive,” Liam said as the two rushed through the starkly lit hallways. “She crawled out, though, from the hole I fell in.”

“Crawled out?”

“Yeah. We found two more holes.  I don’t know who was buried in them, but I really think we need to find out.” Scott and Liam stopped in the waiting area where the others were just as his mother arrived, a grave look on her face.

“She’s being prepped for surgery now,” his mother confirmed, “I think she’ll be okay.” It wasn’t lost upon Scott that his mother glanced Stiles’s way as she said that. It was only a glance, though, and soon the woman’s brown eyes were on Theo. “Good thinking with the tourniquet. You probably saved Lydia’s life.”

Stiles’s jaw tightened at that, but Scott could see the conflict in his eyes. He knew Stiles didn’t trust Theo for whatever neurotic reason Stiles had, but maybe now that he helped save Lydia…

“Is there any supernatural details I should know about before we get started on Lydia or should I treat her like a normal wounded human?” Melissa asked.

“She was cut by Tracy’s tail, if that makes a difference.”

“She’s immune,” Stiles muttered, but no one acknowledged that.

“It wasn’t just Tracy, though,” Malia spoke over Stiles. “It was the guys in the masks. Remember?” Stiles and Scott shared a look. Malia frowned at the unspoken doubt the others shared. “You could ask Allis—” 

“Uh,” Scott cut off. He still hadn’t told his mother about Allison coming back to life. Now hardly seemed like a good time to let her in the know. His mother looked between the group before hurrying off to go to Lydia’s operating room. Once she was good and out of earshot, Scott turned on Malia. “She doesn’t know about her yet,” he whispered.

“I’m sorry,” Malia said, “I’m just… not okay.” And though he wasn’t exactly sure how he felt about the situation, he could hear real pain in Malia’s voice. He could, at least, believe that. “Back at the station, Allison looked like she knew what I was talking about. Could I at least talk to her?”

“Maybe later,” Kira said, “I think we should let her rest. I don’t think she’s entirely okay right now.” Wait, what?

“What do you mean? Did Tracy hurt her, is she okay?” Scott probably laid the worry on a little too thick. Kira stared at him for a second, then shook her head.

“We should probably go check on her. Let her know Lydia’s alright.” And Kira walked away, without looking back. Scott bit his lip as he watched her go, but didn’t move right away, even when Stiles and Malia left, too.

“Scott?” Theo. Scott tried holding in the animosity he was suddenly feeling for the werewolf teen.

“Yeah?” Theo had his hands in his pockets and looked for all the world like he was just standing in the hallway of Beacon Hills High rather than the hospital where one of their friends was being operated on in an attempt to save her life. Then again, he didn’t really know Lydia. To Theo, she was just a person, and he’d even still struggled to save her life.

 _Theo is not a bad guy, Scott,_ Scott told himself. _Theo is not the enemy._

“That girl, Allison… did you two…?” Theo trailed off, raising his eyebrows in a particularly suggestive manner that made Scott’s cheeks flush. “Oh. I see,” Theo said with a little smile, “that explains a lot.”

“I didn’t even answer the question.” … “ _And what does that explain_?”

“You didn’t have to answer it,” Theo mused as he started the walk out of the hospital. Scott followed after him. “I can see it in the way you look at her. Allison means a lot to you.”

“She’s my friend.”

“Okay, Scott.” Theo offered a mean-well smile. “I’m not trying to steal her from you, by the way. I just wanted to help you escape the heat Kira was bound to give you.”

“What are you talking about?” Scott asked.

“Oh, come on. You ex-girlfriend and your current girlfriend are both in danger, and you choose to be more concerned about Allison?” Theo’s logic wasn’t exactly faulty. But still… Scott shook his head trying (and failing) to casually laugh off Theo’s insinuations.

“You’re crazy, Theo.”

“Yeah, well, the best people are.” They were in the parking lot now. Theo’s sleek black truck was the closest, with Kira and Scott’s motorbike being a few lanes down. Theo stopped as he opened his door, turning back to Scott to offer him a friendly smile. “I’ll see you at school, Scott. Keep me posted about Lydia.” And Theo Raeken started his car and drove off into the night.

*

_“Can you count down, Lydia? Starting from ten?”_

_“Ten… nine…eight…seven…” Lydia blinked her eyes as whirring filled her ears and dark masks loomed over her._

_“Keep counting.”_

*

When he got back to his house, Scott was surprised to see Allison asleep on the couch. She was still in the clothes she’d worn to the Sheriff’s station, the dark cloth with her hood pulled up in an attempt to obscure her identity. It made her look even more pallid than usual. Like moonlight or paper…

Or a ghost.

Scott moved to pick her up in his arms, to move her to the guest room. He felt eyes on him, knew they were Kira’s.

“I can’t just leave her here,” Scott tossed over his shoulder. Kira didn’t respond (though he imagined there was a little eye rolling on her part). But she shouldn’t have felt any jealousy. Scott was merely concerned about Allison’s wellbeing, nothing more.

Though, he couldn’t very well deny the urge to place his lips against Allison’s when he set her down in the guest room’s bed. She just looked so… ethereal, so beautiful, so much like the girl he’d fallen in love with only a year ago.

He remembered the times when he’d kiss her awake, or kiss her forehead, or kiss her hands…

He missed Allison’s scent, the sharp metallic, floral aroma that hung around her in an intoxicating wave, like some sort of potion that had kept Scott a slave to her, craving her, needing her….

_But that was another life._

Tearing his eyes away from the sleeping huntress, Scott left the room and clambered down the stairs. Kira was waiting in the kitchen. She was staring at her hands, rubbing at the dark red stains. Blood. Lydia’s blood. Concern and pain shot through Scott’s chest as he approached the dark haired girl, reached to take her hand in his. To his surprise, Kira stepped back.

“What’s wrong?” Scott asked. Kira stared at him. She didn’t have to say anything for the message to translate. “Kira, there’s nothing going on between me and Allison.” Disbelief hung on Kira’s downturned lips. “I’m serious,” Scott insisted. “She’s just my,” his mind scoured for a word, “good friend.”

“I know.” So why did she sound like she wanted to stab him with her katana. “I just…” Kira’s eyes dropped down to her hands, to the blood. “You came into the station, screaming her name.” Kira shrugged her shoulders. “She’s always going to be…”

“Be what?” Scott asked. “Allison and I ended things a long time ago.” Yeah, maybe he’d been hell-bent on waiting for her to come back to him, but… “I’m with you now. I’m with you.” He wasn’t sure if he was telling Kira or himself. By the look on her face, Kira wasn’t sure who he was talking to either. But she sighed and shook her head.

“Never-mind,” the girl murmured.

“Kira…”

“There’s something you should know about Allison.” Scott’s attention piqued.

“What?” he asked, worried all over again. Before Kira could say anything, someone entered the room.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Deaton said, holding up a bottle. Scott raised an eyebrow at the container Deaton held between his fingers. “A werewolf with the talons of an eagle. Possibly a shape-shifted known in eastern mythology as a Garuda Tracy's claws. The unmistakable claws of a werewolf. But a werewolf who also bears the venom and the scales of a kanima."

“What would you even call that?” Kira asked.

"Personally, I call it terrifying." No kidding. “But I’m really more interested in exactly how Tracy was able to cross the mountain ash.”

“Wait, she crossed mountain ash?” Kira asked, turning to Scott. “How’s that possible? She’s supernatural.” Deaton made a sound of contemplation, garnering the attention of Scott and Kira once more.

“ My theory is that Tracy wasn't created through supernatural means, which is why supernatural rules don't apply to her. She was created scientifically.”

“Liam found two holes in the woods,” Scott added.

“Maybe the burials are part of an incubation,” Deaton mused, mulling over Scott’s addition.

“What are we supposed to do?” Kira asked.

 “What you’ve been doing I suppose. Protect your friends. Protect each other."

“How do we protect someone like Tracy, someone being used as an experiment?” Deaton looked away, rubbing his chin as if trying to come up with an answer. When one didn’t come, the man turned back to Scott and lifted his hands.

“I’ll be going out of town for a few days. Try digging something up.” Kira and Scott shared a look.

“Exactly how scared should we be about this?” Kira asked.

“While I work with the supernatural, I consider myself a man of science,” Deaton began. “But something like this rattles the foundation of my beliefs… The rules have changed.”

*

_Allison’s eyes opened._

_“Condition terminal,” she heard them saying. She opened her window, listened to the voices below._

_Placing a foot on the window sill, Allison took a breath._

_She jumped._


	9. Ashamed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, World!  
> Sorry for the long absence--- I didn't have exam week, I had exam month, lol. But I am still interested in this story, despite having less time. Keep your eyes peeled and comment and remember important terms like Scallison and red herrings and sacrifice.

Allison opened her eyes.

The guest bedroom walls greeted her. Strange, she thought, and then she sat up in confusion. Why wouldn’t she be in Scott’s guest room? She’d fallen asleep there… _No_ , Allison remembered, _I fell asleep on the couch. Scott must’ve carried me…_ The thought of Scott’s arms around her sent blood rushing to her cheeks. _It is way too early for those kinds of thoughts._ With a yawn and a stretch (which caused her back to release a staccato of pops that felt heavenly), Allison got out of bed. Melissa’s car was gone, so she figured it was safe to go visit Scott before he left for school.

“Scott?” Allison called, walking out of the room…

Only to find Scott making the trip from the bathroom to his bedroom.

In a towel.

With water still clinging to his chest.

If Allison had been blushing before, she’d be beat-red right about then. She spun around and closed her eyes, a stream of apologies pouring out of her mouth. She could hear Scott’s hurried gait to his room as he, too, apologized.

“I didn’t know you were awake,” Scott called from down the hall, “I didn’t mean to do that, sorry, Allison.” A part of her wanted to fall in a hole. Another wanted to smile and say, ‘don’t be’.

The rational side won out.

“It’s fine,” Allison said. Still facing the opposite direction. “I mean, it’s not like I haven’t seen you naked before.” Which was probably a very not-okay thing to say. But it was early in the morning and Scott was, well, _Scott_ and also, why was this moment drenched in déjà vu vibes? Instead of an appalled gasp, Scott let out a low chuckle.

“Well, I’m glad I didn’t mentally scar you.”

“Yep. Totally not fazed. I’m rock steady.” She sounded like Scott—she actually sounded like Scott. Allison wasn’t used to being nervous. Sure, she _was_ nervous, a lot more than she let on, but it was usually Scott fumbling with his words. Allison had an unusual amount of cool about her, always managed to keep her head in otherwise embarrassing situations…

Apparently death had done away with that trait.

“So, when are you telling your mom about me? I’m tired of sneaking around.” She could practically hear Scott’s heart gallop.

“Um… soon…ish?”

“ _Scott_.”

“I’m serious, Allison, I’ll tell her. Just not yet.”

“At this rate, I’m going to have to stay with Stiles,” Allison muttered as she headed back to her room.

“You’d rather stay with Stiles than me?” Scott asked. Saying ‘yes’ was pretty tempting. After all, Allison wasn’t constantly pressured to jump Stiles’s bones like she was with Scott. But then, at the end of the day, it was Scott’s eyes that calmed her down, it was his smile that chased away any doubt that her coming back was a bad thing.

Stiles probably would’ve started to question her being alive eventually. Maybe postulate that she was really Peter in disguise or something. And maybe, Allison wanting to avoid Stiles’s investigative nature was her way of avoiding the truth—that it was _not_ normal to come back to life and her doing so was probably bad news for everyone…

Disturbing on a whole other level.

“Why don’t you get ready for school and I stay here and perfect the art of staring at walls,” Allison tossed over her shoulder, mentally cringing away from the direction of her thoughts. Scott laughed again, but his feet padded back towards his room. She frowned just a little when he shut the door behind him.

Just a little.

 

_*_

_“I want to know how to fight.”_

_*_

If there was one thing good about dying, it was how easy it was to sneak into the hospital. All it took was a couple lies, a visit to the bathroom, and a quick trip through the air ducts for her to successfully break into Lydia’s room. At the right time, too, as Deputy Parrish had decided to give Lydia a break from getting her official statement (aka _flirting_ ) and left the room.

Suffice to say Lydia was surprised to see Allison.

“What’re you doing here?” Lydia slurred. Probably half-way high off of painkillers. Because Tracy had stabbed her. Because Allison hadn’t stopped her. Guilt hit in one, powerful wave and in seconds, Allison rushed to Lydia’s side, throwing her arms around her.

“I am so sorry!” Allison cried, squeezing her friend. “You could’ve died!”

“Um… ouch.” Oh, right. Allison leapt back, a guilty smile on her face. “And, there is absolutely no reason you should be apologizing. I mean, if I had gotten out of the way…”

“It is not your fault,” Allison cut Lydia off. No way was Lydia seriously going to put the blame on herself. But even with Allison’s words, the young banshee was staring at her hands with this shamed look on her face, shame directed to herself.

“I shouldn’t be so vulnerable,” Lydia muttered. “I shouldn’t be a liability.”

“You’re not a liability,” Allison countered, not that Lydia was really listening to her. “You’re my friend, Lydia. And I would die protecting you.” Lydia looked up, her green eyes glossy with tears. That had been the wrong thing to say.

“You _did_ die,” Lydia whispered. “You _died_. For me.” Maybe it was the drugs making her emotional. Maybe Lydia was done hiding her emotions. Allison reached out, taking Lydia’s hand in hers.

“I would do it again,” Allison assured her, “and I wouldn’t regret it.”

“But I don’t want you guys to keep doing that,” Lydia moaned, struggling to sit up to better level with Allison. “You and Scott and Stiles always sacrifice over and over again for _me_. I refuse to keep hurting my friends.”

“Lydia—”

“I refuse to allow you guys to hurt yourselves to make sure I’m okay. I want to be strong like you, Allison, I want to— _oh!_ ” Allison heard something pop—like bands snapping, strings being cut—and the aroma of fresh blood filled the air.

“Lydia?” Allison asked as her friend reached for her side.

“I’m fine,” Lydia breathed, “I think I popped one of my stitches…” She lifted up the edge of her hospital gown and messed with her bandages. The scent of blood grew thicker, wetter, hitting Allison in a wave as she saw the puncture wound on Lydia’s side. The puckered flesh, the stitching holding it together… The line of red fluid dotting the edges. “Allison?” But she could barely hear Lydia, barely see the girl’s head tilt in concern. “Allison?”

_What is wrong with me?_

Allison saw the needles and the masks and the blood on her hands.

“Allison!” Lydia called after her, but Allison had already ran out of the room.

*

_“Can there be more than one species in the same DNA?” Mrs. Finch shook her head at Kira’s question._

_“No,” she said, “but there_ can _be multiple sets of DNA in the same individual. This is called a Chimera.”_

_Chimera, Scott penned on the edge of his notebook._

*

“I wasn’t able to see Lydia,” Stiles’s voice interrupted Scott’s train of thought as the mole-ridden boy and his girlfriend took their spots at the library table. “She’s in ICU, and only family is allowed to see her.” Scott heard a strain in Stiles’s voice and opened his mouth to ask the question the others had been hedging around ( _are_ you _okay, Stiles?)._ In typical Stiles nature, the moment he saw Scott’s concern, he held up an old, leather bound book. “But we did get the bestiary.”

“Is there anything in there about a half-werewolf, half-kanima?”

“Doubtful,” Malia murmured as Stiles dropped the large book onto the table with a loud thud.

“Chimera.” All attention shifted to Scott. “The thing we talked about in class, Kira? The person with multiple sets of DNA. I guess Tracy had both werewolf and kanima DNA inside of her…” Mentioning Tracy still kind of stung, as did looking at Malia (who continued to claim she had nothing to do with Tracy’s death and Scott believed her, he did, he _did_ ). Scott should’ve saved her. “Liam said he found two other holes aside from Tracy’s.”

“So there’s more than one of these guys?” Stiles asked, eyes widening in a strange mix of fear and aggravation.

“I suppose so,” Scott sighed as Kira opened up the bestiary.

“Well that’s fantastic,” Stiles muttered. “I guess I better dust off my bat, huh?” No one laughed (and Scott kind of thought Stiles was serious).

They poured over the bestiary for about a solid hour, filling their minds with wendigos and banshees and kanimas.... Scott eyed a particularly frightening creature on the opposite side of the wendigo page, a wretched looking being with black eyes, sharp fangs, and grey looking skin. Malia tilted her head.

“What is that?” she asked, trying to decipher the upside down text. Scott moved his thumb to view the title of the page, raised his eyebrows a little in surprise.

“Vampire,” he said. In all of his supernatural adventures, not once had he heard that term. Even Chris Argent himself had failed to mention these creatures. Were they really more than some cooked up media plot to scare children and attract pre-teen girls? Did they actually exist?

“I thought vampires were supposed to be pretty,” Kira mused, glancing at the creature.

“Well, you know that could be Hollywood makeup,” Stiles offered. “And, I think there’s another page here, look…” He flipped to the next page where, low and behold, the vampire section continued. On this side, was a sketch of both a man and a woman, the two very attractive people. Scott glanced at the words etched on the page—pale, cold, blood thirsty…

His phone went off.

“Shush, we’re in a library,” Stiles muttered with a mocking lilt. Scott shoved at him as he checked to see who was calling him. Scott stood up in a second. “What, is it Allison? It is, isn’t it?” Scott didn’t raise to Stiles’s teasing, instead rushing towards the library’s exit, pretending not to feel the knife-sharp gaze focused on his retreating figure.

“Hello?” Scott asked the moment he got outside.

“Scott?” It took about .02  seconds for Scott to hear the tremor in Allison’s voice and even less time for him to panic.  

“Allison, are you okay?” If something happened to her… Scott thought back to that horrifying moment when he’d entered the police station, when he saw the blood, when he thought Allison had—Scott swallowed. “What’s going on?”

“I-I was just going to see Lydia,” Allison stuttered out, “I just wanted to see her, Scott...” Scott waited, breath held, heart pounding… _terrified_.

“Did someone see you?”

“N-no…”

“Then what is it?” Silence. “Allison? _Allison_!” She didn’t say anything right away, but Scott could hear her breathing even out, the shaking quality dying back into a more steady rhythm.

“Uh… it’s…it’s nothing.” A lie. But even as Scott tried prying her for information, Allison kept denying it. “I just… I freaked out, Scott. For no reason. Sorry for bothering you.” Before Scott could ask anything else, the line went dead.

*

_Allison stared at the scene before her. Blood stained her shirt and hands, stained her lips._

_“Oh, God,” she whispered in fear, “Oh, God, oh, God…”_

*


	10. Ablaze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i am late again la-la-la. Why is 5x04 dragging so much la-la-la. Next chapter. I will finish 5x04. I'm considering writing around the episode happenings at this point, because that's what's slowing me down (And you know life). But yeah, short update for y'all. Comments spur me to write longer/faster, just fyi. Also any guesses what Allison is? It may or may not be as obvious as you think :)

She had just wanted to see Lydia.

That much was true.

But everything after that? Not so much.

Allison stared down at herself, at the blood staining her fingers. Whimpering, she shut her eyes. This was not good. More so because if she couldn’t even handle looking down at her stained hands, she certainly couldn’t look herself in the mirror at the red no doubt smeared on her face. _It’s not your blood,_ Allison told herself, _it is not your blood_.

Her hands still shook.

Probably to be expected…

But Allison hadn’t meant for this to happen. She _never_ would have… She’d just gone to see Lydia and then there was blood and memories and all of a sudden Allison ended up in a janitor’s closet, drenched in the contents of a blood bag. Well, some of the contents. The rest she’d downed rather voraciously. Allison could still taste that metallic tang—

And why did her eyes burn? They felt like they were on _fire_! Allison moved to rub them with her palms, stopping when she saw the red that stained her pale skin. _Oh, God…_ Allison used the back of her hands to rub at her eyes in an attempt to rub out the pain. No real luck. They still hurt and she could now smell the blood on her hands.

A part of her was tempted to lick it off.

A part of her was disgusted.

Most of her, though, was particularly interested in the fact that she could hear—with surprising clarity—what was going on just outside of her makeshift safe haven. She could hear heart monitors beeping, wheels on gurneys turning, doctors chattering, patients screaming…

Allison moaned, placing her hands against her ears to block out the noise. Why was she hearing this? What was happening? Why did it suddenly feel as though she’d been shot up with epinephrine, like adrenaline was flooding her system? Whatever the answers to those questions might’ve been, Allison only knew one thing for sure:

She had to get out of there.

Without even thinking, the frazzled girl pushed out of the closet, running through a very surprised nurse as she sprinted towards the hospital exit. The sunlight was even worse. It wasn’t just a stark contrast to the artificial light, it was fire in her eyes, on her skin, burning, hurting—everything was too harsh, too close, too vivid.

With gritted teeth and squinted eyes, Allison continued running, moving faster than she thought was possible for a human, juking through traffic, weaving around pedestrians, leaping fences… And then, mercifully, the sun was gone. No, not gone… filtered, by thick tree leaves forming a protective canopy over her. She’d ran to the woods. Her heart slowed some as Allison fell against a tree’s trunk, fingers digging into the wood a little too easily. 

 _What the hell is happening to me?_ She had no answer. Scared and alone and covered in blood, Allison found herself crumbling to her knees, shivering in fear as the powerful senses continued rocking through her. _It’s okay,_ she told herself, _you’re just freaking out. You’ll be fine_ …

She couldn’t even lie to herself.

Allison didn’t know how long she sat there. Long enough, apparently, for someone to stumble across her.

“Allison?” Not just anyone. Theo. Allison didn’t move though, kept staring down at the ground beneath her (at the ants that marched in and out of their hand made tunnels, at the dew clinging to the dark green grass). She heard the ground next to her crunch. “Allison. Are you okay?” She was, she had to be. “Allison…” She looked up. Theo stared at her for a moment, stared at her eyes. Then, he pulled out his phone. “Scott? It’s me, Theo… something’s up with Allison.”

**

“ _If you want to cause Stilinski real pain… go after someone he loves.”_

**

It really was no surprise that two minutes after getting a call from Theo regarding his ex-girlfriend, Scott was in a frenzy to leave the library without even considering the amount of research they still had to do to learn about chimeras. Not that Kira blamed him of course—she was equally worried about Allison if not a little more so considering she could’ve _sworn_ she saw the girl’s eye color flickering to… something.

But it still hurt seeing Scott so concerned about her, like he was still in love with her… And Kira had her suspicions, she really did. But she felt that asking Scott about it would only produce large amounts of drama they really didn’t need considering everything that was happening. So she quietly tagged along as Scott rushed back to his house where Theo waited for them outside.

“Where is she?” Scott asked, hardly even propping up his motorcycle correctly (Kira had to struggle to keep the thing from toppling over). “Is Allison okay?” Theo shrugged his shoulders, but the dubious look on his face wasn’t all that comforting. Scott studied the reaction for about two seconds before hastening his steps and pushing through the front door. “Allison?” he called out, “Allison?”

Kira really should not have been jealous. Allison was in trouble.

( _This did not change the fact that she kind of was_ ).

With her lips pressed firmly together, Kira headed for the McCall house. Theo placed a hand on her shoulder before she crossed the threshold, a knowing look in his eyes.

“You okay?” Theo asked. Kira considered the question for a moment.

“Yes.” Theo narrowed his eyes at her. “No…” But that didn’t sound right either. “Maybe.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Not with a guy she hardly knew. Besides, there were more important things to attend to at that moment, something Kira didn’t hesitate to remind him of. “Of course,” Theo said, “I just figured Scott might’ve wanted to be alone with Allison…” Heh. With a mix of a pout and a glower, Kira pushed into Scott’s house, not at all surprised to see Scott kneeling down in front of Allison with her hands in his.

Talk about having a katana through the heart.

_Be realistic, Kira. Allison is shaken up. She knows Scott, a lot better than you. Of course he’s going to comfort her._

Still. Katana. Heart. Massive amounts of pain.

“What’s happening?” Kira asked curiously, “is everything o—” Her words caught in her throat when Allison looked up at her with dark veins sprouting from around red eyes. “Oh my…” Unlike Scott’s alpha red eyes, Allison’s irises weren’t red. Rather the whites of her eyes were dark, blood colored, and scary, which made the girl’s frightened expression all the more unsettling.

“I don’t know what’s happening to me,” Allison said, “everything is just…” She didn’t have any words. Kira didn’t either. Scott rocked on his haunches to better look at Allison, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“It’s okay,” Scott told her, “I’m going to fix this. I promise.” Allison stared at Scott with wide eyes, and for a moment Kira forgot every negative thing she’d thought about their relationship. All she saw was a scared girl, someone terrified of what was happening to her.

_Just like me…_

Without thinking, Kira stepped forward and placed a hand on Allison’s shoulder. The huntress stared up at her.

“It’ll be okay, Allison,” Kira promised her, genuine to her core.

The moment, as nice as it was, didn’t last. Scott’s phone rang.

“Hello?” Scott asked after answering it (not bothering to look away from Allison, much to Kira’s chagrin). He paused as the person on the other end poke, his face growing increasingly bitter. “Oh. I’ll be there.” He hung up.

“Who was that?” Kira asked.

“My mom. There was a kid brought into the hospital… she wants us to come look at it, she thinks it’s supernaturally related.”

“What isn’t these days…” Scott half-smiled at Kira’s statement before glancing over to Allison. The conflict was extremely evident.

“I’ll watch her.” Scott’s eyes flickered to Theo. Narrowed. The werewolf raised his hands in mock-surrender. “Don’t worry, Scott. I’ll protect her, make sure she doesn’t hurt anyone or vice versa.” Scott didn’t appear ready to relent.

“She’ll be fine, Scott,” Kira tried, though Scott only stiffened his jaw against the suggestion as he glanced back to the shivering Allison. Allison tried smiling.

“They’re right,” Allison said, “I’ll be fine. It’s not like I could go with you. Aside from being dead my eyes are kind of freaky right now.” And she was still covered in blood, something that was actually really puzzling. But Kira didn’t ask about it since Scott seemed okay with the whole situation (granted, Allison had probably told him what had happened before she walked in, so whether he wanted to let her in on the whole thing or not was entirely up to the young Alpha).

“…Fine. But you’ll call—”

“—If anything bad happens, I know, Scott.” She smiled and, for the first time that afternoon, Scott smiled, too. At Allison. The Ex-Girlfriend. Kira tried not to think too hard about that as she and Scott prepared their journey to the Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital for the second time that week.

**

_It’s a mix of curiosity and loneliness in the midst of the Sinema strobe lights that heightens Liam’s hearing, clues him in on the heavy cu-thunking steps…_

_Something wasn’t right. And Liam wasn’t above finding out._


	11. Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Scott doesn’t have buried feelings for me. He has Kira.” Theo smiled at Allison’s response.
> 
> “That’s because he couldn’t have you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol hi. 
> 
> *nervous laugh*

“So.” Allison didn’t look up at Theo, merely stared at her hands. By that point, the blood had begun to dry, staining her skin in deep red scales. “You and Scott…” Was he really going to bring that up _now_? Allison stared up at Theo, at his wide green eyes. “You guys were a thing, weren’t you?”

“I think you have more important things to worry about,” Allison muttered. “For all you know, I could be dangerous.” She’d hardly had any control back at the hospital. Who knew the next time she’d snap?

“I don’t think you are,” Theo mused, leaning against a nearby chair. “If you were, I don’t think Scott would trust you.” Allison wasn’t so sure about that one. Scott had always been a bit on the naïve side when it came to his trust. Usually it took someone like Derek or Stiles to balance out Scott’s persistent optimism. Not to say he didn’t typically have good instincts, it was just…

The taste of blood burned on Allison’s lips. She shut her eyes tightly.

“Are you okay?” Theo asked, taking a step towards her. Allison felt her eyes burning again, fire beneath her eyelids.

“I’m fine,” she lied. Dug her nails into her palm. Eventually managed to stable her breathing, minimize the aching. _Pain makes you human… but I_ am _human._ She hoped.

Theo was studying her. Again. Something about his inquisitive stare was unsettling, and Allison found herself picking at the flakes of blood still coating her hands just to avoid looking at him. She was sure he was a good guy—she just didn’t know him.

“…I heard you died.” Oh, great. “Don’t look so angry, nobody told me—I just happened to overhear Stiles and Scott talking about you. I’d assumed it was about Scott’s buried feelings for you until I heard words like ‘stabbed’ and ‘funeral’ and ‘shouldn’t be back’.” There were a few concerning things in that statement, but the only one Allison found herself commenting on was:

“Scott doesn’t have buried feelings for me. He has Kira.” Theo smiled at Allison’s response.

“That’s because he couldn’t have you.” Allison didn’t need to be thinking about that right now, about the things that could’ve been if she’d never died ( _if she’d never been dumb enough to break up with Scott in the first place_ ). The huntress settled on glaring at her hands, debating whether it would be smart to take a shower or not… “Allison?”

“Yes, Theo?” There was a little more venom in her voice than she’d anticipated.

“What’s the last thing you remember about coming back to life?” Allison blinked before looking up at Theo.

“What?”

“The last thing? Before coming back to Beacon Hills… what do you remember?” The masks came to mind almost instantly, causing Allison to shiver.

“I… I don’t know. It’s all unclear.”

“Maybe I could help with that.” Allison’s brows furrowed as Theo knelt down before her. If his staring had made her uncomfortable before, it was absolutely cringe-worthy now.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Allison asked, trying to lean back but being stopped by the couch. Theo grinned.

“I’m helping you, Allison.” And with a particularly wicked gleam in his eye, Theo’s lips formed a word Allison had never heard before, but recognized instantly:

“Perigee Syzygy.”

The room was silent. The two stared at each other, Theo with silent anticipation painted on his face, Allison with a look of confusion. _What the heck…?_ Allison was about to ask him what he meant when she heard the whirring, heard the voices whispering in her ears.

Then it all went black.

*

“ _Please tell me there isn’t a giant scorpion running around Beacon Hills_.”

*

That had worked better than Theo had been expecting. The safe word had almost instantly put Allison in a fugue-like state, as it had done earlier. Those dread doctors sure knew what they were doing, which was exactly why Theo had been eager to work with them in the first place… It’d only be a matter of time before he got his pack, now. But first…

The teen turned to Allison. Grinned at the thousand mile stare she displayed.

“Allison?” Theo asked. She turned her head, but he knew nothing was processing in her long term memory. It was all muscle movement and hunter skills. “Are you ready for your mission?” She didn’t say anything, just stared. Theo let the bag on his shoulders slide off, flipping it around so he could better hand it to her. She snatched it from him, opened it up and peered inside.

“I’m better with a bow and arrow.” That was her subconscious talking, not really _her_. The thing the doctors had programmed into her, or rather programmed out of her. This Allison had no feelings, no memories… just the skills of a hunter and a heart of an obedient killer. The perfect tool.

“They recognize you by that,” Theo explained to her, but by the blank stare she gave him, he knew she didn’t really know or care about what he was talking about. “Never-mind. You’ll complete the mission with those. And don’t forget to wear the uniform.” Allison blinked at him before nodding.

“I understand.” Theo smiled. Music to his ears.

*

_"So I guess it's better to be one of the bad guys."_

 

*

“Is there even a myth about a half-scorpion, half-werewolf?”

“Sumerian.” Kira made a contemplative sound as Scott slowed his motorcycle and carefully leaned it against the nearest wall ( _please nobody steal it, please nobody steal it, please nobody steal it)._ They went through the backdoor, because there really wasn’t enough time to try getting through the bouncer (and Scott only had three dollars on him). Unfortunately, the second he and Kira entered the club, a piercing alarm went off.

Scott might’ve panicked.

Kira, however, didn’t. Masterfully throwing what looked like a shuriken at the clanging bell, the young kitsune quickly and effectively shut it off. Scott blinked. Turned to stare at the petite girl beside him. There was something like a smug smile on her face as she appraised her handiwork. Scott looked back at the damaged alarm.

“…God, I love you.” And he turned to find Lucas.

Sinema was every bit as ‘club’ as Scott had anticipated, complete with half naked people jumping up and down and blaring rave music that was kind of only bearable with a significant amount of alcohol in one’s system (or wolfs bane, since Scott couldn’t exactly get drunk anymore). And of course the flashing lights. Scott surveilled the room, trying to find anything that looked even remotely suspicious.

“You did it again.” Kira.

“Did what?” Scott asked, only half-paying attention to the girl sidling up beside him.

“You did something that changed everything without even realizing it.”

“…I did?” He certainly hadn’t remembered… _oh, God._ Yes he did, he remembered very well. _God, I love you._ Why had he said that? Why did it sound wrong, like a lie? Why should it be a lie? He was dating Kira after all, he had a right to say those types of things, right?

Brown eyes popped into his mind.

Not Kira’s.

Before Scott could fully comprehend the dangerous land he was about to enter, a roar vibrated through him, one he recognized as Brett (one he recognized as salvation).

“They’re in trouble!” Scott exclaimed before taking off towards the sound. He didn’t miss the grudging groan Kira let out before following after him. By the time Scott and Kira arrived on the scene, a fight had already broken out. Which was to say Lucas was pinning Liam down to the ground, struggling to sting him with the creepy pincers protruding from his arm.

“ _You’re a little late!_ ” Liam cried, struggling against Lucas’s weight. Scott didn’t bother responding instead charging at Lucas and shoving him off of Liam. Of course, he should’ve known Lucas would’ve pushed him off, but luckily Kira was ready for action, whipping her sword out to join the fray.

 

**

There was something very disconcerting about being in Tracy’s room. Maybe because she was a killer. Maybe because she was dead, too. Malia’s fingers traced along the papers Tracy had hung upon her wall. The papers had drawings on them, good ones. Drawings that seemed to be penned by your average teenage artist. Not a were-kanima.

 _Tracy didn’t deserve this_ …

Malia frowned, letting her eyes wander elsewhere. Her eyes caught sight of something sitting underneath Tracy’s wallet. A book. Malia lifted it up to examine the thin paperback. _T. R. McCammon._ While Malia hadn’t really been exposed to that much literature, the name didn’t ring the faintest of bells. There was a note on the cover, too.

_Here’s the book you asked for. Cheesy stuff, but still a fun, scary read._

But that wasn’t what kept her staring. It was the cover. With three people with creepy masks. Malia had seen them. She had _seen_ them! They’d killed Tracy! The title of the book caught Malia’s eyes.

_The Dread Doctors._

Was that who they were?

Her fingers tightened around the book as she rushed out of Tracy’s house, another piece of the puzzle falling into place.

 

**

 Kira really seemed to know what she was doing.

Scott watched in semi-awe as the girl fought off Lucas with her katana. On the other side of the room, Mason was helping Brett stand up. Scott rubbed the blood off of his cheek. He should get back in the fight, he should—

Scott watched as Liam threw the Lucas to the ground. The monster of a boy blinked, looked around in confusion. Huh? Was it all over? Scott started to step towards him. Started to.

 _Watashi wa shi no shisha da_!

Kira, engulfed in her glowing aura, swung her katana down, preparing to cut Lucas’s head open.

“No!” Scott shouted, diving just in time to grab Kira’s wrist. For a moment, when Kira looked at him… Scott was sure she didn’t recognize him. Something about the light in her eyes was cold, unfeeling. Scott’s jaw tightened along with his grip.

“We’re okay,” he said, before turning to the frightened Lucas on the ground. “Liam…” His beta sat up, ready. “Can you help me get Lucas out of here?”

“Yeah, sure…” Just as everyone began to move, something rams into Scott’s chest—something fast. So fast, he didn’t even see the thing coming, not until the black shape turned on Liam. Liam nearly dropped Lucas in surprise. “Uh, Scott…”

Scott got to his feet, feeling his fangs and claws growing once more. The dark creature—person, he realized after it straightened up—turned to face him. Lifted what looked to be a pair of metallic batons. Scott had a feeling they hurt. Nevertheless, he let out a warning roar in hopes that it would scare the new assailant off.

Wishful thinking, apparently.

The figure lunged for him, easily dodging his slashes and shoving a quick and _strong_ kick to Scott’s chest. He flew back into Kira, gasping on air and blood, if the tangy taste in his mouth told him anything. The kick was so hard, Scott almost blacked out. After blinking away the dark circles, he saw Kira was looking down at him, clearly upset.

“Scott, are you okay?”

“Uh, still trying to figure out myself…” Did that thing break one of his ribs? Because _ow_. A shout dragged his attention back to the situation at hand. Panicked, Scott jumped up. “Liam!” But the sophomore was already on the ground, holding his stomach and wincing every so often. But alive. Which meant… “ _No_!” But the creature had already went for Lucas, hitting him with an array of quick jabs and hits that had a deadly accuracy to them. “No!” Scott shouted again, but he was only able to take one step towards the attacker before it hit Lucas with the last, crushing blow.

Scott knew that when he saw the silver spill past Lucas’s lips, when he heard the crushing stop of the teenager’s heart. Scott cried out, rushing to catch the falling boy. The attacker— _the killer_ —easily stepped out of Scott’s way. And then, they made a run for it.

Kira made an attempt to catch them, but they were too fast, easily scaling the nearest pole towards the rafters… Where others waited. The people in the masks, Scott recognized. He also noticed how the three looked to the killed, nodded. Were they all working together? Was that what this was?

“Why?” Scott asked. “Why did you kill Lucas?”

“His condition was terminal,” one answered simply. As if they hadn’t just taken someone’s life. A life Scott was supposed to save.

“What does that _mean_?” Scott said through gritted teeth as the four beings turned to go. One turned back, looking Scott dead in the eye.

“Failure.” And then they disappeared, just like that.  

**

_Stiles feels a hand grab his shoulder, feels pain explode from him. He screams._

 


	12. Aid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m an Alpha. I’m the True Alpha. It’s my job to take care of these people and yet they keep dying. Him and Tracy an-and you…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.  
> When I'd posted the last chapter, I'd had a whole new energy for this story and was excited to put it out. But between then and now things have gotten... hectic. There was a very sudden death in my family and I guess I'm trying to cope. It's not that I'm not doing well. During most of the day I'm pretty fine; I can listen to music, I talk to people and laugh and clean and all these other distractions and then at night when I usually try to do most of my writing I just can't get it out of my head that I will never see this person again and I think of all of my family members who are in pain and I think of everything that makes me just want to sit there and not do anything... and it's a very recent thing so I figure I'm probably better adjusted than most, but it still made it really hard to start writing this chapter. So if updates are slow don't think I gave up on this, I'm just going through some things right now and motivation to continue writing anything at all is kind of weak right now. I told you all this just to explain if there's another furlough period.

Allison and Theo were still in the living room when Scott came home. Though the word ‘come’ implied something a little tamer then the way he’d stumbled into the house, one hand across his chest as if holding his torso together. Allison hopped to her feet and rushed to Scott’s side.

“Are you okay?” she asked as she dove underneath his free arm, trying to pick up some of his weight. Scott looked at her curiously through his wince.

“Are you?”

“Of course. I got some sleep and I’m feeling a lot more put together. You, though…” she walked him to the nearest couch, eased him onto the cushions. Scott let out a pained groan as he sunk into the chair, letting his head fall back against the couch’s frame. Allison watched on, helpless.

“I’m fine, Allison, really,” Scott insisted. “Nothing my werewolf abilities can’t fix.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t help. First aid kit?” Scott sighed heavily. He knew better than to argue with her.

“Same place it always was.” Allison nodded in understanding before taking the stairs and rushing to Scott’s bathroom. Once there, she did a brief search under the cabinet before locating the first aid kit in question. With a little smile, Allison spun around and rushed back downstairs. She was a little surprised to see that Theo had left.

“What happened to your friend?” Scott shrugged innocently. Too innocently. Allison shot him a look, but didn’t press. He was injured after all. She had to attend to that first. “Lose your shirt.”

“What?” And now Scott really did look innocent, what with the way his cheeks practically lit up like Rudolph the Reindeer’s nose. Allison tried biting back a grin.

“You’re holding your side. That’s where the pain is, right?”

“Oh, right…” Scott carefully pulled his shirt over his head, though Allison noticed every cringe he did as he completed the action. She also noticed the purple bruise forming on his abdomen. Scott glanced up when Allison hissed at the sight. “It’s not that bad.”

“It kind of looks like it. Here, sit back.” Scott followed her orders, easing against the sturdy back of his chair as Allison’s hands hovered over the sore area. Her brown eyes met his. “Tell me when it hurts,” she instructed him. Scott nodded, his jaws bracing for the pain. Allison’s hands hung over Scott’s skin for a second, uncertain. _Ah, what the hell_? Her fingers dropped, skin against skin…

She tried to keep her heart beat in check (because the last thing she needed was for Scott to hear how much she was freaking out).

Her fingers lightly grazed over Scott’s torso, starting from the side of his stomach and dancing up towards his rib-cage. His skin was so warm. It’d always been, come to think of it, but against her now frigid fingers, it almost felt like a hot coffee mug or a tea kettle… But it didn’t hurt. It felt… _nice_ actually. Allison stared at the tan skin under her hands, Scott’s skin.

Her eyes found his when she felt him cringe away from her.

“You have to hold still,” Allison said with a straight face, “you could have a broken rib.”

“It would heal,” Scott insisted, looking for all the world as if he were trying to wriggle away from Allison’s fingers.

“Yeah, maybe in the wrong direction. Do you want that?” Scott pouted but ultimately relaxed.

“Fine.”

“You know I’m right, Scott.” His response was another puppy-dog pout which Allison tried her best to ignore. She went back to work. It didn’t _feel_ like anything was out of place, just swollen. But then Scott was still staring at her, so maybe she wasn’t thinking straight.

“Do you remember that time where we fought the alphas and we thought Derek died?” That was an odd memory to bring up.

“Yes,” Allison said, focusing on her work, “I do remember that.” Scott hummed under his breath, scooting up in his chair a bit.

“And you remember that injury I got? The one that wouldn’t heal?”

“Yeah…”

“Do you remember how you patched me up?” Allison looked at Scott then. He was staring at her, intently, as if he were trying to read her mind. But what was he getting at? Of course Allison remembered… she’d been scared half to death because he’d passed out and there was no way she was going to let Scott McCall die on her. “Do you?” Scott asked, taking her silence as a bad sign. Allison’s hands kept moving up Scott’s chest but she didn’t break eye contact with him.

“That’s not something I can just forget, Scott. I thought you were dying.” Without warning, Scott grabbed Allison’s wrists. Not in a threatening manner, or in a way meant to scare her—he just caught them. Held them. Allison blinked, curious why, underneath the hard bone she could feel a strong steady rhythm pounding up through her palms. Looking down, she figured out her answer pretty quickly.

At some point she’d let her hands wander up towards Scott’s heart, not even noticing that the area was nowhere near the injured skin. Allison felt her cheeks flush hot with embarrassment, but she didn’t pull away; Scott was still holding her there. She met his wide-eyed gaze hesitantly.

“Even without a superfast healing or claws, you still take care of us, Allison. You always take care of us, of me.” Scott focused on Allison’s hands resting on his chest, a somber expression overtaking him. “And I… couldn’t save you.” Oh. He was thinking about _that_. Allison opened her mouth to chase away the thoughts creeping into Scott’s head, but he was already speaking again, halfway in another world. “A kid died today.”

“I…” Allison’s fingers curled against Scott’s sternum. “I’m sorry.” Scott sighed.

“I am too. He was probably a nice kid. He was younger than us, too, fifteen, sixteen…” Scott’s voice trailed as a haunted expression took over his face. “I’m an Alpha. I’m the True Alpha. It’s my job to take care of these people and yet they keep dying. Him and Tracy an-and you…”

“Hey,” Allison said, placing a hand against Scott’s face. “Hey, look at me, Scott.” He didn’t, instead closing his eyes.

“My mom said there was nothing I could do. She told me it was okay and I know that, logically, she’s right. But I still feel it, you know.” Scott opened his eyes and stared up at Allison. Vulnerable was never a word she would use describing Scott McCall, but in that moment it was the only one that seemed applicable. He looked like he’d just walked out of a lost war, where he was the only survivor.

“Scott, you’re not Super Man,” Allison said. “And your mom is right; it’s okay. You can’t save everyone all the time… it’s not possible.”

“I should’ve saved you.” A beat of silence passed as the huntress and the alpha stared at one another.

“There was a reason I died,” Allison found herself saying. “Just like there is a reason I came back. Things don’t just happen. They always lead to something, you know?” Allison moved one hand so she could hold Scott's. "Bad things happen and it sucks a lot. But sometimes, in the very, _very_ long run, they turn out to be for the best. For some one... I don't know. I just think maybe there's a point to all this suffering. Like a story or something." Scott tilted his head at Allison, curiosity in his eyes. 

“I thought you said there’s no such thing as fate.” Allison remembered saying something like that, after one of the darkest times in her life when she’d lost her mother and, in a way, her grandfather and even herself… She remembered what that had done to her. _There’s no such thing as fate_ , she’d told Scott. Allison smiled just a little.

“There’s no such thing as werewolves either.”


End file.
